Congressional Democrats may have accepted last year’s election outcome, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be in attendance to welcome the change.
Since December, several members of the House said they would not attend Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration Friday. That number multiplied after Trump insulted veteran House member and civil rights leader, John C. Lewis on Twitter.
Some said they cannot participate in a ceremony that celebrates a president whose platforms contradict their constituents. Others said they plan to save their energies for the Woman’s March on Washington. The event is an anti-Trump focused demonstration scheduled for the day after the inauguration.
On Jan. 13, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva announced from the House chamber that he would boycott the inauguration. Instead, he plans to march in Tucson with his constituents.
“My absence is not motivated by disrespect for the office, or motivated by disrespect for the government that we have in this great democracy,” he said, “but as an individual act – yes, of defiance – at the disrespect shown to millions and millions of Americans by this incoming administration.”
California Rep. Jared Huffman, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, also of California, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, the first Mexican-American woman elected to Congress, and Rep. Maxine Waters are among a growing list of legislators who plan to skip Trump’s inauguration.
“I never contemplated attending the inauguration or any activities associated w/ @realDonaldTrump. I wouldn’t waste my time,” Waters tweeted Sunday.
Click here for a full list of Congressmen and Congresswomen who will not be in attendance.
Read more on JetMag.com: http://www.jetmag.com/news/lawmakers-skip-trump-inauguration/#ixzz4W3H0o0Tf
