Trump won’t attend Biden’s inauguration, returns to Twitter with video condemning rioters
Posted January 8, 2021 11:27 am.
Last Updated January 8, 2021 11:31 am.
President Donald Trump has announced he will not be attending President-elect Joe Biden’s Inauguration on Jan. 20.
Traditionally, the incoming and outgoing presidents ride to the U.S. Capitol together for the ceremony, as a symbol of the nation’s peaceful transition.
He will be the first incumbent president since Andrew Johnson in 1869 to skip his successors’ inauguration.
To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2021
This comes after he condemned the “heinous attack” of the U.S. Capitol in his return to Twitter Thursday evening, adding he was “outraged by the violence, lawlessness, and mayhem.”
Trump also promised “a smooth, orderly, and seamless transition of power” in a video posted to the social medial platform, which had suspended him from tweeting for 12 hours on Wednesday evening.
“To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country, and to those who broke the law, you will pay, ” he said, in stark contrast to his tone the previous day.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2021
Trump has just less than two weeks until the end of his term. However, calls continue to grow to have him removed from office early, in the wake of the violence and chaos at the Capitol building — a powerful symbol of the nation’s democracy — on Wednesday.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that “the president of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America.” She called him “a very dangerous person who should not continue in office. This is urgent, an emergency of the highest magnitude.”
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“I’m not worried about the next election, I’m worried about getting through the next 14 days,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s staunchest allies. He joined a number of other U.S. politicians and world leaders in condemning the president’s role in the riots.
On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made his strongest statement yet on the storming of Capitol Hill, pointing the finger of blame at Trump and his political allies.
“What we witnessed was an assault on democracy by violent rioters incited by the current president and other politicians,” he said, not mentioning Trump by name.
With files from The Associated Press
