Donald Trump won’t attend Joe Biden’s inauguration
By Our Correspondent
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Friday he will not attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, breaking a tradition that has for centuries been a hallmark of the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next.
Two days after infuriated Trump supporters overran the U.S. Capitol during Congressional proceedings to formally certify Biden’s win, Trump wrote, “I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
Less than one day earlier, he had issued a video promising to devote his remaining time in office to a “smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power” to Biden.
Trump will be the first sitting U.S. president since Andrew Johnson to skip the ceremony. Johnson did not to attend his successor’s swearing-in 152 years ago.
Despite his long overdue acknowledgment Thursday that Biden will take office this month, Trump continues to insist that he was cheated out of a second term in office. Officials in his administration — including former Attorney General William Barr — have affirmed there is no evidence of significant voter fraud that would have made Trump the winner.
Meanwhile George W. Bush, is the only living Republican former president, condemning Wednesday’s “violent assault” on the U.S. Capitol, where a pro-Trump riot forced a recess and resulted in one confirmed fatality as lawmakers were certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions, and our law enforcement,” Bush wrote in a prepared statement.
“The violent assault on the Capitol — and disruption of a Constitutionally mandated meeting of Congress — was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes,” he went on, without specifically naming Trump.
Bush was one of a number of prominent Republicans who condemned the actions of the pro-Trump mob Wednesday.
“Violence has absolutely no place in our democracy,” national security adviser Robert O’Brien said Wednesday.
“Our country is better than what we saw today at our Capitol.”
“I am outraged by the lawless protests that unfolded at the United States Capitol today,” Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole wrote in a statement. “While Americans have the right to passionately voice their views and peacefully dissent in protest, I strongly condemn the perpetrators of this destructive and violent activity.”
Among Democrats, former President Barack Obama blamed the violence directly on President Donald Trump and on members of his Republican Party who have endorsed his false claims of election victory and his calls for resolute action to keep him in office.
“Republican leaders have a choice made clear in the desecrated chambers of democracy,” Obama said. “They can continue down this road and keep stoking the raging fires. Or they can choose reality and take the first steps toward extinguishing the flames. They can choose America.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Wednesday’s mob a “shameful assault” on American democracy.