MN Congressman Joins List of Lawmakers Refusing to Attend Trump Inauguration

ellison

Minneapolis, MN – Representative Keith Ellison (MN-5) has announced he will not be attending the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump on Friday. In a tweet, Ellison said, “I will not celebrate a man who preaches a politics of division and hate. I won’t be attending Donald Trump’s inauguration.”


The announcement came after Ellison tweeted out his support for Congressman John Lewis, whom democrats are accusing Trump of attacking on Twitter. Trump tweeted out a series of tweets after Lewis announced he would not be attending Trump’s inauguration and erroneously stated it would be the first one he had missed (he also did not attend George W. Bush’s inauguration).

Both Lewis and Ellison have been working to portray Trump as a president minorities should fear. In an Oct. 2016 article for Esquire, Lewis said: “When I see the people that react to Donald Trump’s words at those rallies, I see the same look in their eyes that I saw [in the eyes of Sheriff Clark and his posse]—a look that says, ‘you’re not a part of us, you’re not a part of the American family, you come from someplace else.’ When Trump talks about building a wall, to lock certain individuals out, people rallied. They screamed and yelled. It reminded me of some of the rallies that I saw on television for [infamous racist/segregationist Alabama governor] George Wallace during the ’60s.”

As Alpha News recently reported, Ellison has also attacked Trump, accusing the President-elect of pushing white supremacy and as “is the most prolific misogynist as anybody who has ever occupied that office.”

Ellison, who is campaigning to become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has had past Minnesota Daily columns as well as some college papers surface during his campaign for the chairmanship. In the articles, Ellison proposed a separate country for Black Americans, as well as professed his support for Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and called for reparations for Black Americans.

Ellison joins a growing list of other democrats who have said they were boycotting Trump’s inauguration, which includes Congressman John Lewis (GA). The lawmakers say they cannot show support for Trump due to his treatment of Lewis and the policies for which they believe he stands.

The full list of lawmakers refusing to attend Trump’s inauguration (as of Jan. 17, 2016):
Texas Rep. Al Green
California Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard
Georgia Rep. John Lewis
Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison
Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen
California Rep. Mark Takano
New York Rep. Yvette Clarke
California Rep. Ted Lieu
New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler
Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva
Michigan Rep. John Conyers
California Rep. Mark DeSaulnier
New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez
Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader
Missouri Rep. William Lacy Clay
California Rep. Barbara Lee
New York Rep. Jose Serrano
California Rep. Judy Chu
Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez
California Rep. Jared Huffman
Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark
Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer
New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat
Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge
California Rep. Maxine Waters
Maryland Rep. Anthony Brown
Virginia Rep. Don Beyer
Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree
Kentucky Rep. John Yarmouth
California Rep. Karen Bass
Pennsylvania Rep. Dwight Evans
California Rep. Zoe Lofgren
California Rep. Grace Napolitano
California Rep. Raul Ruiz
Washington Rep. Adam Smith
Florida Rep. Darren Soto

Andrea Mayer-Bruestle

Andrea Mayer-Bruestle is a former writer for Alpha News.