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WASHINGTON /Â AP
More than 40 House Democrats plan to boycott President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday, casting the Republican businessman as a threat to democracy.
Reps. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Jerrold Nadler of New York and Don Beyer of Virginia on Monday joined a growing list of lawmakers who will not attend Trump’s swearing-in at the US Capitol. The number who initially said they would skip the event has increased after Trump lashed out at Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., on Saturday for challenging his legitimacy to be the next president.
Trump struck again Tuesday morning with a tweet that noted that Lewis had claim that Trump’s inauguration would be the first he will have missed since coming to Congress in 1987. “WRONG (or lie)!” Trump tweeted, saying Lewis had skipped George W. Bush’s inauguration in 2001.
Lewis’ office on Tuesday confirmed that the civil rights icon had missed Bush’s swearing in.
“His absence at that time was also a form of dissent,” said spokeswoman Brenda Jones. “He did not believe the outcome of that election, including the controversies around the results in Florida and the unprecedented intervention of the US Supreme Court, reflected a free, fair and open democratic process.”
Cohen said the hope and change associated with President Barack Obama taking office eight years ago have been replaced by “fear and dread.”
“This president ‘semi-elect’ does not deserve to be president of the United States,” Cohen said in a statement. “He has not exhibited the characteristics or the values that we hold dear. That Dr (Martin Luther) King held dear. That John Lewis holds dear. And when he questioned the integrity of my friend, colleague and civil rights icon John Lewis, that crossed the Rubicon.”
Trump and other Republicans have dismissed the boycott and complaints, saying Democrats are sore losers who need to accept the results of the election and move on. Democrats control 194 House seats.
While many Democrats were furious with the outcome of the drawn out 2000 election in which George W. Bush defeated Al Gore after recounts and a Supreme Court ruling, they generally attended Bush’s inauguration as the nation’s 43rd president. The House is out of session most of this week and roll call votes are not anticipated, so other lawmakers in both parties may skip the trip.