At least 18 Democratic lawmakers have said they will boycott US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration this week, after disclosure of Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 election and his rebuke of civil rights icon John Lewis, according to a media report on Sunday.
Democratic Representative Lewis blasted Trump in an interview to a news channel, saying he would boycott the ceremony for the first time since he arrived in Congress in 1987 because he doesn’t see Trump as a “legitimate” president in light of Russian interference, CNN reported.
Lewis was one of three black lawmakers to testify against Trump’s attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions last week.
Trump had called Lewis “all talk” and “no action” and told him to focus more on “fixing and helping” his district rather than “complaining” about the Russia’s role.
“I will NOT attend the inauguration of @realDonaldTrump.
When you insult @repjohnlewis, you insult America,” tweeted New York Rep. Yvette Clarke, making public his decision to boycott Trump’s swearing-in ceremony on January 20.
Some members of Congress have said they will be protesting in DC and in their districts instead of attending the event.
“’All talk, no action.’ I stand with @repjohnlewis and I will not be attending the inauguration,” California Rep. Mark Takano tweeted.
“For me, the personal decision not to attend Inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis,” California Rep. Ted Lieu said in a statement released by his office.
Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva said he will not be attending the inauguration of Trump as the next president.
The office of Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the dean of the United House of Representatives, confirmed to CNN he won’t be attending the inauguration.
“It is with a heavy heart and deep personal conviction that I have decided not to attend the #TrumpInauguration on January 20, 2017,” California Rep. Mark DeSaulnier tweeted.
“I will not be attending inauguration of @realDonaldTrump but WILL participate in the @womensmarch on January 21st,” New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez tweeted.
Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader said, “I’ll do my best to work with him (Trump) when I think he’s doing the right thing for the country. But he hasn’t proved himself to me at all yet, so I respectfully decline to freeze my ass out there in the cold for this particular ceremony.” Missouri Rep. William Lacy Clay’s spokesperson said that Clay will be in his home state speaking to schoolchildren.
California Rep. Barbara Lee said she wouldn t endorse a president defined by “racism, sexism, xenophobia and bigotry.”
New York Rep. Jose Serrano, California Rep. Judy Chu, Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez, California Rep. Jared Huffman, Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark, Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat are among others who have decided not to attend the inauguration.
Need to make Donald Trump accountable: Bernie Sanders
Less than a week ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as the next US President, top Democratic leader Bernie Sanders on Sunday expressed concerns over the policies and rhetoric of the incoming administration and said there is need to make the new president accountable.
“We all remember that Trump was one of the leaders of the so - called birther movement trying to delegitimise the presidency of our first African-American president Barack Obama, which is an outrage. So, I think right now, the focus has got to be on how we hold Trump accountable. What has been doing in the last week, attacking Hollywood actresses for criticising him, I mean what would is this guy living in?” Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate, told ABC News in an interview.
“But right now what my job is, and I think the job of Democrats and Republicans, is to protect the middle class and working families of this country from some devastating ideas that Trump has proposed,” Sanders said.
Trump is all set to be inaugurated on January 20.
“I have great concerns, and apparently Republicans do as well, and there’s going to be an investigation about the role that Russian hacking played in getting him elected,” he said.
“Do I think Russians supported him? Do I think they tried to get him elected? Do I think it worked against Clinton? I do. And that is something that has to be investigated,” he said. “My job is right now going beyond media conflicts and words is to say that Donald Trump, among other things, told the American people he would not cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and right now Republicans in the House and Senate are doing just that. So, I want Trump to send out a tweet saying that he’s going to keep his campaign promises,” Sanders said.