Democratic congresswoman to ditch Trump's inauguration in favor of 'organizing and preparing for resistance'

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GettyImages)

published 12 January 2017

Not every Democrat is following in Hillary Clinton's footsteps and attending President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. On Thursday, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) joined a handful of other Democratic lawmakers who have announced they will be boycotting the Jan. 20 ceremony.

In a statement, Lee said she "will not be celebrating or honoring an incoming president who rode racism, sexism, xenophobia, and bigotry to the White House" and who will "normalize the most extreme fringes of the Republican Party." Instead, Lee announced she will be "organizing and preparing for resistance":

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), and Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) cited similar reasons for RSVP-ing "no" to Trump's inauguration. Gutiérrez said in a statement, "I could not look at my wife, my daughters, or my grandson in the eye if I sat there and attended." Huffman said he could not "sit passively and politely applaud" as Trump's term begins, while Clark cited discussions with "hundreds" of her constituents, who she said "are fearful that the anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and divisive promises that drove the Trump campaign will become the policies affecting the health and safety of every American."