President Donald Trump announced he would not attend President-elect Joe Biden's January 20 inauguration. He will be the first sitting president since Andrew Johnson to skip the new administration's induction.
Trump stated on Friday he will skip Biden's inauguration, denying to fulfill the outgoing president's role according to tradition in the transition of power.
Trump to skip Biden's inauguration
Trump has not made a public appearance since a violent mob of his supporters assaulted the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in a bid to halt the transfer of power.
Momentum is mounting for a second impeachment vote on charges of "incitement of insurrection" following the Capitol Hill incident, reported DW.
The declaration came as media reports suggested the sitting president could be imposed a second impeachment vote.
He proffered no clues for how he would spend his remaining hours in the office.
For the event, the incoming and outgoing presidents traditionally ride to Capitol Hill together as a symbol of the United States' peaceful transition, reported Firstpost.
"To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20," Trump wrote on Twitter before he was banned from the social media platform, reported Bloomberg Quint.
The president's decision to snub the induction event follows a weeks-long effort to overturn the will of voters who elected Biden with scores of lawsuits filed, promotion of conspiracies of election fraud, and berated state officials for halting or reversing certifications of Biden's victory.
On Thursday, NBC News reported that Vice President Mike Pence would possibly be present at the inauguration if invited.
There have been merely a handful of times in the United States history that an outgoing president did not attend the inauguration of the incoming president.
John Quincy Adams and Andrew Johnson were all not present while Richard Nixon departed the White House following his resignation and skipped Gerald Ford's induction.
Former President Johnson skipped his successor's swearing-in 152 years ago.
A day earlier, Trump had released a video vowing to devote his remaining duration in the office to a "smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power" to Biden.
Biden remarked that the president's absence at the ceremony would be favorable, addressing reporters in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday, that the decision not to be present was one of the few things he and Trump agreed on.
In the video mentioned above, Trump acknowledged that a new administration would be inaugurated on January 20. However, he refused to give up his allegations that the election was stolen from him.
The decision to skip the inauguration was expected, as Trump for months claimed victory in the presidential election and promulgated claims of voter fraud.
Joe Biden's transition team had no immediate response to Trump's announcement. However, Jen Psaki, the president-elect's incoming White House press secretary, stated in December that whether or not Trump attended the inauguration was not top on Biden's mind.
