More Democrats swear off this swearing-in ceremony
Lawmakers side with Lewis after Trump hits back
A stream of House Democrats joined dozens of their colleagues Tuesday in vowing to boycott Presidentelect Donald Trump’s inauguration in the wake of him lashing out at civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis.
“We all dissociate ourselves with the brand, the Donald Trump brand of division and insult coupled with his lack of knowledge of the magnitude of the office that he’s about to enter,” said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, DN.C., who announced his plans Tuesday to skip the swearing-in.
Butterfield, former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said he has been in “deep thought” over the past several weeks about whether to attend Trump’s swearing-in. “I was just offended time and time again during the campaign with Donald Trump’s politics of division and insult,” he said. “I just feel that he’s not prepared to be president. He’s not prepared to be commander in chief.”
Butterfield was among dozens of lawmakers, most of them Democrats but some Republicans, who have taken issue with Trump’s response to comments by Lewis. In an interview with
Meet the Press, Lewis called Trump’s presidency illegitimate and said he wouldn’t attend the swearing-in.
Trump slammed Lewis on Twitter, saying he should spend more time fixing his district that is falling apart and that he
was “all talk, talk, talk — no action or results. Sad!”
Trump continued the feud Tuesday. “John Lewis said about my inauguration, ‘It will be the first one that I’ve missed.’ WRONG (or lie)!” he tweeted. “He boycotted Bush 43 also.” Lewis’ office acknowledged that the lawmaker had skipped Bush’s inauguration in 2001.
By Tuesday afternoon, more than 50 lawmakers said they wouldn’t attend the swearing-in. Some had already said they wouldn’t go, but others said Trump’s criticism of Lewis led them to skip the inauguration.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said he will be in Washington to greet constituents attending inauguration events, but he won’t be at Trump’s swearing-in.
“Every American should respect the office of the presidency and the fact that Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States,” Castro said in a statement. “But winning an election does not mean a man can show contempt for millions of Americans and then expect those very people to celebrate him.”
Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., said it’s not a decision he made lightly. He said he has heard from hundreds of constituents in the wake of Trump’s attacks against Lewis and complained that Trump has used his “bully pulpit for insult and ridicule.”
Yarmuth said, “It is not my intent to protest the election results or to make a statement about policy.” However, he said, “I will not be attending the inauguration because I believe the office of the president deserves our respect, and that respect must begin with the president- elect himself.”
Scott Golden, chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, said he’s disappointed some lawmakers have decided not to attend, particularly since Lewis didn’t go to the inauguration of George W. Bush in 2001.
“Obviously, Congressman Lewis is a hero of the civil rights movement,” Golden said. “However, not attending the inauguration seems more partisan than it is patriotic. Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. It is incumbent on everyone to work together to make America great again.”
Butterfield said he will attend Trump’s State of the Union Address. “After the inauguration and after the State of the Union, I’m hoping that we will see a Donald Trump that is transformed,” he said, “and that once he settles in, he will recognize the enormity of his responsibility. And I would hope that he would become a responsible leader. But right now, he’s acting very irresponsibly.”
Butterfield called the decision whether to attend a personal choice.
“Each CBC member has his or own conscience and their own politics they have to resolve,” he said.
Many lawmakers boycotting the inauguration are members of the Congressional Black Caucus, but the caucus has issued no formal statement on the matter.
Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., the new caucus chairman, said late Monday on MSNBC’s Rachel
Maddow Show that he wasn’t sure whether he would attend.
Richmond credits Lewis and other civil rights veterans for fighting to open the doors for him and other African Americans.
“In a tweet, the president-elect of the United States chose to ignore all of that for petty silliness,” Richmond said. “I think that’s unfortunate. I think the reaction throughout the country, Democrat and Republican, black and white, is very fitting where people are taking up for John Lewis’ past.”
Richmond said that if he was not head of the 49-member black caucus, “there’s no way I would be there. ... So if I’m there sitting through that inauguration, you will know that I’m absolutely making a sacrifice to be there.”