Will Colorado’s U.S. representatives attend Donald Trump’s inauguration?

So far, none of Colorado’s U.S. representatives have announced plans to skip Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday in the nation’s capitol.
2 min. read
US House Representative Jared Polis (District 2) speaks out on the State Capitol steps against Donald Trump on July 2, 2016. (Sara Hertwig/For Denverite) jared polis; denver; denverite; sara hertwig; colorado; poltics

US House Representative Jared Polis (District 2) speaks out on the State Capitol steps against Donald Trump on July 2, 2016. (Sara Hertwig/For Denverite)

So far, none of Colorado's U.S. representatives have announced plans to join the growing list of legislators skipping Donald Trump's inauguration Friday in the nation's capitol.

Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis all plan to attend Trump's inauguration their offices told Denverite on Monday. The elected officials didn't immediately elaborate on their decisions or why they weren't joining the Democrats boycotting Friday's events.

"Congresswoman DeGette will attend the inauguration and take part in the march the next day," said spokeswoman Lynne Weil in an email.

Denverite also reached out to the office of Sen. Michael Bennet. But the Democratic senator didn't immediately provide his plans for Friday. Bennet, DeGette, Perlmutter and Polis all backed Hilary Clinton during the presidential election.

At least 20 representatives from around the country — all democrats — have announced plans to not attend Trump's swearing-in ceremony and other inaugural events. The officials cited a range of reasons including the president-elect's crass comments about women, immigrants and most recently civil rights leader John Lewis.

Rep. Lewis, D-Georgia, suffered a fractured skull while leading the march in Selma, Alabama more than a half century ago. His feud with Trump started after the representative said he would not attend the presidential inauguration and he said he doesn't see Trump as a "legitimate president,"  The Associated Press reports.

In 2001, Lewis skipped the inauguration of former president George W. Bush because he didn't believe Bush was "the true elected president," according to a Washington Post article from the time.

This article has been updated from an earlier version to reflect Rep. John Lewis' track record of attending presidential inaugurations.

Recent Stories