President Donald Trump has now stated that he will not attend the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. Trump posted his message on Twitter, saying, “to all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
Trump has also stated last night that he will focus on providing a “smooth, orderly, and seamless transition” of power to Joe Biden according to a report on Fox News. Their report quoted Trump saying “This moment now calls for healing and reconciliation.”
The president followed up his anti-inauguration message an hour later, addressing his followers. That message said “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”
This is the first time a sitting president has not attended the inauguration of an incoming president since 1869, if he does not attend.
There are three other presidents who did not attend the president-elect’s inauguration. They are former presidents Andrew Johnson, John Adams, and John Quincy Adams.
Trump has been banned from several social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram after the incident that took place on the nation’s Capitol this week.
He is still able to Tweet, but does not appear to have access to Facebook or Instagram just yet, and might not have that back until after the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden.
Other platforms have suspended or banned his account as well, including e-commerce platform Shopify and online payment tool, PayPal.
As of now, Vice President Mike Pence will attend Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Photo: Joe Biden: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (source: Joe Biden); User:TDKR Chicago 101 (clipping)Donald Trump: Shealah Craighead (source: White House)Сombination: krassotkin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
