Trump does not come to the inauguration – VG

It thus breaks with a tradition of many years, in which the incumbent president ceremoniously hands over power to the heir on January 20.

It is a tradition for the outgoing president to attend the incoming president’s inauguration ceremony, as former President Barack Obama did when Trump assumed the presidency.

While President Trump continues to deny the election results and insists that he was the winner, his statement is not surprising:

– To all who have asked me, I will not attend the opening ceremony on January 20.

– It is clearly very special and clearly not very shocking, summarizes the American historian and expert Hans Olav Lahlum.

He says the president’s choice not to attend incoming President Biden’s inauguration ceremony is a sharp break with tradition, but not unexpected.

– It illustrates very well that your reaction to the electoral defeat is completely different from that of other presidents. It is not at all unexpected, considering how it has performed, especially in the aftermath of the elections.

Lahlum notes that Trump’s decision could have an unexpected effect on Biden:

Consciously or unconsciously, he helps his successor to gain as much sympathy as possible from the start. The more child protests come from Trump, the better for Biden.

Turbulent

The announcement that he will not participate comes hours after he posted a video on Twitter in which he formally admits that he will not sit for a second term.

– Congress has now approved the result of the elections. A new administration will be installed on January 20. My focus now is on ensuring a smooth and good transfer of power, says Trump, adding that the time for reconciliation has come.

– My campaign has followed all legal ways to challenge the election result, my only objective was to guarantee the integrity of the elections. I did it to fight for American democracy, he says in his video greeting.

They can be a bright spot in everything, Lahlum believes.

– If you are going to see something positive, then at least you have received some kind of positive confirmation that there will be a transfer of power, he says.

Pence may appear

When President Trump himself took office in 2016, former President Barack Obama and then Vice President Joe Biden attended.

CNN wrote Thursday, before Trump’s plans were known, that Vice President Mike Pence should attend, if invited.

– The whole situation is special, but when it also happens that the vice president can run, it’s an interesting difference to note, says Lahlum.

For Politico, Devin O’Malley, one of Pence’s spokesmen, says that neither Pence nor the first lady have decided if they want to participate.

– If it meets, it will mean the vice president ends up with much higher style ratings than the president, which is also a pattern that has been seen lately, Lahlum notes.