Mitch McConnell reportedly wanted to disinvite Trump from the inauguration
Before then-President Donald Trump announced he wouldn't attend President Biden's inauguration, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reportedly planned to tell him he wasn't invited.
That's according to ABC reporter Jonathan Karl's new book, Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show, which reveals McConnell "wanted to get a letter together from the top four congressional leaders informing Trump that he had been disinvited" from Biden's inauguration. McConnell was reportedly concerned the inauguration would be "another opportunity" for Trump "to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power" after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reportedly wasn't on board with the plan, believing it would send an "important message of unity to have Trump attend the ceremony as Biden took the oath of office." McConnell reportedly still planned to put the letter together without McCarthy's involvement. But McCarthy, Karl reports, told the White House about McConnell's plan, and Trump subsequently announced he wouldn't attend the inauguration before the letter could be drafted. "To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20," Trump announced in a Jan. 8 tweet.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Trump apparently wanted people to think it was his decision alone to become the first outgoing president after an election to fail to attend an inauguration since Andrew Johnson skipped the inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant in 1869," Karl reports.
McConnell voted to acquit Trump for incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial but still criticized his "disgraceful" actions, saying on the Senate floor, "There's no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of [Jan. 6]. No question about it." Read more at ABC News.
-
Political cartoons for December 23Cartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include an eye on CBS, cracking the middle class, and Donald Trump's name on everything
-
Why women are feeling the festive stressTalking Point As the Christmas frenzy ramps up, many mums feel the pressure of ‘keeping the whole sleigh on the road’
-
Is Keir Starmer being hoodwinked by China?Today's Big Question PM’s attempt to separate politics and security from trade and business is ‘naïve’
-
The MAGA civil war takes center stage at the Turning Point USA conferenceIN THE SPOTLIGHT ‘Americafest 2025’ was a who’s who of right-wing heavyweights eager to settle scores and lay claim to the future of MAGA
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Is Trump deliberately redacting Epstein files to shield himself?Today’s Big Question Removal of image from publicly released documents prompts accusations of political interference by justice department
-
What Nick Fuentes and the Groypers wantThe Explainer White supremacism has a new face in the US: a clean-cut 27-year-old with a vast social media following
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Why does Trump want to reclassify marijuana?Today's Big Question Nearly two-thirds of Americans want legalization
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
