Anthony Brown says he won’t attend Trump’s inauguration
Recent statements about Rep. John Lewis cited
Rep. Anthony G. Brown on Monday became the first Maryland congressman to say he will not attend President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration, pointing to the Republican’s criticism of a congressman and civil rights icon over the weekend.
Brown, a first-term Democrat from the state’s 4th Congressional District, announced his decision on Twitter on Monday, joining a growing number of Democrats planning to be somewhere else when Trump takes the oath of office Friday.
Brown said his decision was based on Trump’s tweets on Saturday directed at Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a civil rights activist who was among the original Freedom Riders. Tweeting days ahead of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Trump described Lewis as “talk, talk, talk — no action or results” and described his district as “crime infested.”
“I have been wrestling with this decision for quite some time,” Brown said in an interview late Monday. “Not only did the president-elect disrespect John Lewis the civil rights icon, but he disrespected Congressman John Lewis, and that was the tipping point.”
Lewis had questioned the legitimacy of Trump’s presidency during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that became public on Friday.
“I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,” Lewis said. “I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.”
Several other Democrats across the country have said they are skipping the inauguration, including Reps. Raul M. Grijalva of Arizona, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, and Earl Blumenauer and Kurt Schrader of Oregon.
No other Maryland Democrats have said they will skip the event. Reps. John Sarbanes of Baltimore County and Jamie Raskin of Montgomery County have indicated they will attend. Reps. Steny Hoyer of Southern Maryland and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Baltimore County also will attend. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Baltimore said he is still deciding. Other Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation could not be reached for comment late Monday.
Brown, a former lieutenant governor, was elected in November to the 4th District seat previously held by Rep. Donna F. Edwards. Brown