Yahoo Finance Trump not attending Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20 is 'small and not surprising': Conn. governor
The podium behind Joe Biden for his Jan. 20 presidential inauguration will have one less former president on stage.
President Donald Trump said Friday in a tweet he will not attend Biden’s ceremony, as is common practice for former living presidents.
Trump tweeted to his 88.7 million followers Friday morning:
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
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.) told Yahoo Finance Live immediately after Trump’s tweet that he isn’t surprised by the move.
“It seems very small to me. Every president has been there for the peaceful transfer of power, with one exception, John Adams. He was a grump with Thomas Jefferson and left for Massachusetts,” Lamont said. “It’s disappointing, and not surprising [to see Trump’s decision].”
Trump’s decision not to attend the inauguration — which isn’t a shock seeing as he has yet to concede to Biden — comes after a legacy-destroying week for the commander in chief.
Mobs of Trump supporters descended on Capitol Hill this week. They broke into the Senate floor where the presidential certification process was occurring after Trump fanned the flames of division via social media posts and in a pre-Georgia Senate runoff rally. The rioters also took over the offices of some politicians, most notably U.S. House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Now Pelosi and other Democrats are calling for the removal of Trump via the 25th Amendment before his term expires in 12 days. Most Republicans have denounced the president’s role in the uprising and have sought to distance themselves. Several members of Trump’s Cabinet — including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao — resigned in the aftermath.
“He needs to recognize the reality that we are having a transition of power at noon on Jan. 20 and he needs to be a part of doing that in the great American tradition. That’s his responsibility,” said Congressman James French Hill (R-Ark.) on Yahoo Finance Live.
Hill — a long-time Trump supporter who didn’t support the Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) political stunt to slow the election certification process — stopped short of calling for the impeachment of Trump.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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