Axios reported on Friday that “a formal boycott” of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration is “materializing as a first act of resistance” against his new administration. The media outlet has begun tracking the number of House Democrats who plan to sit out the event. So far, 13 lawmakers say they will definitely not attend, 20 more are undecided, and 40 others say they plan to attend.
The report describes the undecideds as “anxiously grappling with whether to attend.” Allow me to enlighten them. Although some of their constituents might be disappointed by their lack of representation at such a historic event, most people simply do not care whether they show up or not. Despite their exaggerated sense of their own importance, their presence at the U.S. Capitol on January 20 will not be missed.
These Democrats refuse to accept the fact that Trump just won a decisive victory over their preferred candidate. He swept the battleground states, won the popular vote, and was even named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.”
The times have changed – completely, but the Democrats’ narrative has remained the same. As the authors of this article seek to explain why these Democrats are refusing to attend the inauguration, they return to the same tiresome excuse. “For many Democrats,” they write, “the scars of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol remain fresh in the mind, marking Trump as a threat to democracy.”
To be fair, that’s precisely what several Democrats have told them. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the former Jan. 6 committee chair whose anti-Trump bias throughout the investigation was obvious to all, told Axios, “For somebody who he said he’s going to lock me up, I don’t see the excitement in going to see his inauguration.”
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) will not attend because he “‘cannot be a part of that spectacle’ as someone who was ‘locked in my office … as the insurrectionists tried to overthrow our government.'”
Likewise, Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) will skip the festivities because she was “trapped in the [House] gallery on Jan. 6.”
A fair number of representatives said they will be attending events to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which also falls on January 20 next year.
Others noted they were concerned for their personal safety at such a large event. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) told Axios that, as a Latina, she doesn’t “feel safe coming.” It was unclear if she would feel safer if she were white or black.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) echoed Ramirez’s sentiments, telling Axios that “attending MLK Day events instead ‘makes sense, because why risk any chaos that might be up here?'”
A spokesperson for Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) told Axios that Smith “almost never attends inaugurations.” In fact, the spokesperson said he had attended only two since he arrived in Congress 28 years ago.
USA Today caught up with some Democratic members of Congress last week as well. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) who has been one of Trump’s most outspoken – and shameless – critics, said, “I’m not quite sure what I would be celebrating with his inauguration.”
Interestingly, the Democratic senators who spoke to USA Today seemed far less venomous compared to their House colleagues who spoke to Axios. For example, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) plans to show up, saying, “I think it’s a responsibility.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders told USA Today he hadn’t even “thought about it.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) who might face off against the state’s popular Republican governor, Brian Kemp, in 2026, said he will be there. “And I think Georgians expect me to be,” he added.
“More than 60 members of Congress” did not attend Trump’s 2016 inauguration. Nor did Trump show up for President Joe Biden’s 2020 inauguration.
USA Today brought up a very interesting point: “As Trump returns to Washington, political observers and historians say the attendance list for his swearing-in ceremony could be a cheat sheet of how different factions of the opposition party and other foes plan to handle his second administration. … Others say it shouldn’t be looked at through a political lens at all.”
In the end, however, given all he’s been through over the past decade, Trump has a very clear idea of who his friends are and who his enemies are, which is something he sorely lacked in 2016. The resistance will continue, but he and his officials will be far better prepared for it this time around. And that will make all the difference.
Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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