Civil rights hero John Lewis burns Bernie: In all my years of activism 'I never saw him, never met him'

Legendary civil rights activist and U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) challenged the civil rights record of Democratic candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) by saying Thursday he had never seen Sanders in the course of his many years working for racial justice.

Lewis was addressing the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, which endorsed Sanders' rival, Hillary Clinton.

Lewis said of Sanders, "I never saw him, I never met him. I was a chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for three years from 1963 to 1966. I was involved in the sit-ins, the Freedom Ride, the March on Washington, the march from Selma to Montgomery, and directed the Voter Education Project for six years. But I met Hillary Clinton. I met President Clinton.

RELATED:Rep. Barbara Lee: ‘Clear firewall’ between Congressional Black Caucus and PAC backing Clinton

Sanders won the New Hampshire primary this week after a hair-narrow loss to Clinton in Iowa early this month. But Sanders has consistently struggled to attract voters of color, the Washington Post reports. Those demographics will become increasingly important in primaries scheduled in states that have large communities of color.

Watch Rep. Lewis' brief speech, as posted to Twitter by ABC News, here:

WATCH: Rep. John Lewis on @BernieSanders' civil rights record: "I never saw him. I never met him."https://t.co/KApfLPumiJ

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 11, 2016