In an unusual act, at least two Democratic members of Congress will skip next week’s inauguration of Donald Trump as an act of protest.
“My absence is not motivated by disrespect for the office or motivated by disrespect for the government that we have in this great democracy,” Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., announced Friday during a speech on the House floor. “An individual act, yes, of defiance at the disrespect shown to million and millions of Americans by this incoming administration and by the actions we’re taking in this Congress.”
Grijalava said he’ll be home in Arizona meeting with constituents, including seniors, immigrants, environmental and climate change activists and health care providers.
“I’m doing that because if you look at the scenario that’s before us, Affordable Care Act, and then deregulation strategies down the road the group that I mentioned are the groups that are going to feel the first blunt of Trump trying to do something. So it’s good to be in the community talking about these things on inauguration day,” he told USA TODAY later Friday. “Knowing that this is the reality and me being at the inauguration when I think that my time … is better spent being with the constituents who keep me if office and help me.”
He said he wasn’t questioning the peaceful transition of power, but rather respecting the people who weren’t happy with the current situation.
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SOURCE: USA Today, Eliza Collins
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