Here Are The Democrats Planning to Skip Trump’s Inauguration in Reported ‘First Act of Resistance’
A clear picture is emerging of congressional Democrats who plan to skip President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month in an effort Axios described Saturday as their “first act of resistance” against him.
While many notable names reportedly plan to attend the Jan. 20 ceremony in Washington, some House and Senate Democrats have ruled out going to Trump’s big event.
House Democrats who will skip the swearing-in as of Saturday included Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ); Adam Smith (D-WA); Deborah Ross (D-NC); Donald Beyer (D-VA); Steve Cohen (D-TN); Kweisi Mfume (D-MD); Jasmine Crockett (D-TX); Sean Casten, (D-IL); Delia Ramirez (D-IL); Ilhan Omar, (D-MN); Judy Chu (D-CA); Lateefah Simon (D-CA); Veronica Escobar (D-TX).
Cohen and Escobar both cited the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack as their reason for staying home.
“[I was] locked in my office … as the insurrectionists tried to overthrow our government,” Cohen said while Escobar told Axios, “I was trapped in the [House] gallery on Jan. 6.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries plans to attend while, per Axios, Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have not yet made a decision.
Ocasio-Cortez told Axios, “I haven’t even thought that far.”
In the Senate, no Democrats told Axios they planned to skip the inauguration as of Saturday, although 10 of them said they had not ruled out staying home.
Notable lawmakers who were unsure about whether to attend included Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) all said they would be present. Axios concluded:
Not every Democrat skipping the ceremony will do so to protest Trump — but a formal boycott is materializing as a first act of resistance against the incoming president. For many Democrats, the scars of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol remain fresh in the mind, marking Trump as a threat to democracy.
