SAN FRANCISCO, January 08, (THEWILL) – Donald Trump said that he won’t attend Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, a break from history that has traditionally been a symbol of the peaceful transfer of power.
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th”, Trump tweeted on Friday.
Trump announced his decision without offering an explanation, two days after a group of his supporters occupied the Capitol building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Biden as the winner of the Presidential election.
The president has previously refused to commit to attending Biden’s inauguration amid weeks of unsuccessful efforts to reverse Biden’s win, telling reporters in late November that he’d made up his mind on whether to attend but would not announce his decision.
His decision confirms many advisors’ reported suspicions he will sit out Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.
Despite Trump’s absence, Vice President Mike Pence is expected to attend the inauguration, reports said.
A Trump loyalist for most of his term, Pence broke with Trump on Wednesday when he presided over Congress’ certification of Biden’s win, drawing attacks from the president on Twitter.
Trump will be the first president not to attend his successor’s inauguration since Andrew Johnson in 1869. Richard Nixon resigned from office and left the White House before Gerald Ford was sworn in in 1974.
It has been a tradition for the incumbent president to invite the president-elect to the White House, and they ride to the inauguration together.
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