Growing List Of California Lawmakers Snub Trump Inauguration

LOS ANGELES, CA — The list of Democratic legislators snubbing Donald Trump’s inauguration snowballed this week in the wake of his attack on civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis. Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s the California lawmakers leading the largest inauguration boycott in decades. About a quarter of the state's congressional Democrats have announced plans to boycott the inauguration.

What is surprising is the shift in tone they are adopting. In the days following Trump’s victory, Democratic leaders expressed disappointment but made tentative overtures to work with the new president while paying tribute to the peaceful transfer of power at the foundation of U.S. democracy.

This week, however, some legislators openly questioned the legitimacy of Trump’s presidency while others dismissed him as unworthy of respect.

“You’re actually seeing a huge reaction to the cloud of illegitimacy over Donald Trump,” California Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Los Angeles, told Slate. “The classified report provides clear and convincing information to support the conclusions set forward in the unclassified report...He is lying to the American people when he said that some other country may have hacked us. It was Russia. Trump went to the briefing. He knows what’s in that report, and he is lying to the American people.”

Lieu even took his attack a step further, alleging the new president will violate the constitution the moment he takes office because of the foreign conflicts of interest created by his failure to divest himself of business holdings.

Other California lawmakers didn’t even bother to enumerate the reasons for their snub.

“I never ever contemplated attending the inauguration or any activities associated w/ @realDonaldTrump. I wouldn't waste my time,” tweeted Maxine Waters, a Democrat from Los Angeles.

Similarly Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from San Jose, was in no mood to hide her disdain for the incoming president.

"I acknowledge the fact that he is the incoming president, but I’m not in the mood to celebrate that fact,” she told the Los Angeles Times.

Rep. Karen Bass, a Democrat in Los Angeles, took to Trump’s favorite medium to seemingly troll the president-elect. On Jan. 15 she tweeted out a poll asking if she should attend the inauguration. Two days later, with 84 percent of respondents telling her not to go, she tweeted, “After receiving an overwhelming response on the twitter poll, I've decided not to attend the inauguration of President-elect Trump.”

Still others sought to frame the snub as a moral stance.

“Trump — who lost the popular vote — has made a series of racist, sexist and bigoted statements. In addition, he has attacked Gold Star parents, veterans such as John McCain and now civil rights icon John Lewis,” said Rep. Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat from Long Beach. “While I do not dispute that Trump won the Electoral College, I cannot normalize his behavior or the disparaging and un-American statements he has made.”

Republicans were quick to seize on the boycott as an act of partisan hypocrisy. Democrats feigned horror, critics contend, when Trump hinted that he would not accept the legitimacy of the results if he lost. Some compared the Democrats’ skepticism of Trump’s legitimacy with his birther skepticism of Obama.

However, California Democratic lawmakers are taking to the role of opposition party like old hands. For many, the days of placating the right or the center, for that matter, are over.

“They’re being disingenuous,” Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from Oakland, told Slate. “Let them say what they want to say. They can keep criticizing us. We’ve got to be real with people. We’ve got to be the voice of the people.”

List of California’s Inauguration snubbers, according to their statements in the press and on social media:

Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles)
Ted Lieu (D-Los Angeles)

Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach)
Barbara Lee (D-Oakland)
Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles)
Tony Cárdenas (D-Los Angeles)
Juan Vargas (D-San Diego)

Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park)

Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael)
Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose)
Mark Takano (D-Riverside)
Mark DeSaulnier (Concord)
Jerry McNerney (Stockton)
Grace F. Napolitano (Norwalk)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (Downey)
Raul Ruiz (Palm Desert)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons