US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he would skip Joe Biden’s inauguration in a final, unrepentant act of division as his presidency imploded amid demands that he step aside for the last 12 days in office. “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” the US leader said on Twitter.
His comments came less than 24 hours after he promised a “smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power” to his successor.
If Trump skips Biden’s swearing-in, he will be the first incumbent President since Andrew Johnson (in 1869) to not go to his successor’s swearing-in ceremony.
Trump, who had on Thursday grudgingly admitted that he would not be serving for a second term after claiming for long that fraud had deprived him of victory in the 3 November presidential elections, had not, however, even referred to Biden by name in it.
He has been under a cloud after a mob stormed the Capitol where a joint session of Congress to certify the electoral college votes was underway, forcing its delay for few hours and drawing widespread outrage from the country and the world. Four people were killed in the violence, while a police officer, who was severely injured, has now succumbed to his injuries.
In the wake of this, there have been calls for him to be impeached again or removed from office for inability. Long-time allies have deserted him, but Trump seems to remain determined to showcase his potential.
Meanwhile, a day after conceding his defeat, Trump said that millions of those who voted for him would have “a giant voice long into the future” and they will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way.
“The 75,000,000 great American patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future,” Trump tweeted.
“They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!” This comes after his supporters stormed into Capitol building and violent protests broke out in Washington.
This also follows Trump conceding defeat to US President-elect Joe Biden after Congress completed the counting of the Electoral College votes.
A chaotic and violent scene erupted at the Capitol on Wednesday as supporters of Trump stormed the building to protest the Electoral College vote, forcing a lockdown and various confrontations with police. Four people died in the melee.
Wednesday’s violence came hours after Trump encouraged his supporters to fight against the election results as Congress was certifying Biden’s victory in the November vote.
Twitter had blocked the Trump account from posting on their platform after the protests broke out in Washington. Twitter unlocked the president’s @realDonaldTrump Twitter account after Trump removed three rule-breaking tweets. He returned to Twitter on Thursday with a video acknowledging that Joe Biden would be the next US president