DONALD Trump has announced he will not be attending Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration later this month - the first time such a snub has happened for more than 150 years.
President Trump is set to become the first US leader in recent political memory not to appear for their successor’s swearing-in ceremony.
It means President Trump will become the fourth president in US history to not attend his successor's inauguration - with the last such incident taking place in 1869 wiehn Andrew Johnson refused to attend President-elect Ulysses Grant's ceremony as he would have to travel in the same carriage.
Speculation had mounted that President Trump would instead travel to Scotland at the time of the inauguration - but Nicola Sturgeon has said any trip would not be allowed under Covid-19 travel restrictions.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon warns Donald Trump ban on travel to Scotland also applies to him
Vice President Mike Pence is expected to attend Mr Biden’s inauguration on January 20.
President Trump, facing a backlash from opponents and within his own Republican Party for inciting a violent siege by his supporters on the US Capitol building, tweeted to confirm he will not be attending the ceremony.
He said: "To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th."
In a video posted more than 24 hours after the violent attack on the Capitol building, President Trump finally acknowledged that Mr Biden will become the new leader of the United States.
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders in the US House of Representatives have suggested the chamber could take up articles of impeachment against President Trump as soon as next week if Vice President Mike Pence and Mr Trump's Cabinet do not act to remove him.
To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2021
Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark said the House "can use procedural tools to get articles of impeachment to the House floor quickly", as early as the coming week, if Mr Pence does not invoke the Constitution's 25th Amendment to remove Mr Trump from office, following calls for him to do so.
The campaign to remove President Trump from office comes after US Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who was injured "while physically engaging with protesters" during the Wednesday riot, was pronounced dead following the incident.
He is the fifth person to die because of the riot.
During the siege, Mr Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, two law enforcement officials said.
Representative James Clyburn, the number three House Democrat, said he hopes Speaker Nancy Pelosi "would move forward if the Vice President refuses to do what he is required to do under the Constitution.
"Everyone knows that this president is deranged."
The 25th Amendment allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare a president unfit for office.
That section of the amendment has never been invoked.
On Thursday, Mrs Pelosi said the House could move on impeachment if Mr Pence and the Cabinet do not remove Mr Trump before his term ends on January 20.
Mr Pence has not publicly addressed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment.
But that possibility may have faded after two Cabinet members resigned on Thursday in protest after Mr Trump egged on rioters who then mounted an assault on the Capitol.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel