 "Former first lady Michelle Obama speaks at a campaign rally for democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at the Wings Event Center, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. File Image: AP")
After Republican firebrand Donald Trump broke 150-year-old tradition by skipping the inaugural ceremony of the outgoing US President Joe Biden, Democrats are finding ways to repay the snub four years later. The traditions imbibed in the very first US presidential inauguration, of George Washington in 1789 are still observed nearly to this date. However, Democrats are planning to change things a little bit.
In 2021, Trump was the first former president for more than 150 years to skip the swearing-in of his successor. The reason Trump skipped the ceremony was because he didn’t believe the fact that he lost the 2020 Presidential race to Biden. Fast forward to 2025, Trump will make a ceremonious comeback to the Oval Office on January 20.
Ahead of the ceremony, here are three ways Democrats are giving it back to Trump by breaking with tradition.
1. Michelle Obama skips inauguration
Earlier this week, it was announced that former First Lady Michelle Obama would not join her husband at the inauguration ceremony of the 47th President of the United States. On Thursday, former US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi confirmed that she would skip the event as well. While other Democrats are expected to avoid the ceremony as well, the party have not so far organised an all-out boycott which they did during Trump’s first inauguration in 2017.
No reason was given by the Obama office in their brief statement over the matter. Notably, the announcement came just days after the former First Lady skipped attending the funeral of another former US President, Jimmy Carter, where her husband was seen chatting with Trump. The funeral was attended by other former first ladies, including Melania Trump.
2. Harris not hosting Vance at VP residence
As of now, outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris has not extended the traditional invitation to her successor, JD Vance, to meet at the VP’s residence in Washington DC. A source close to the matter told CBS News that Harris has been consumed with other matters, including the response to devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. However, there has not been any official comment on the matter from either of the sides.
Harris lost the 2024 presidential race against Trump. This is not the first time the tradition has been broken. Following the intense 2020 election, there were no sit-downs between former VP Mike Pence and Harris. While Harris’s team claimed that no invitation was ever sent, the Pence camp said that a discreet offer was made for a meeting.
3. Biden skips farewell press conference
After delivering his farewell address from the White House, it looks unlikely that Biden will conduct an exit press conference. The exit press conferences were conducted by former presidents George W Bush and Obama, but not by Trump in the acrimony after the 2020 election.
It is important to note that during his time in the Oval Office, the outgoing president has done fewer news conferences than any other for decades.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMeanwhile, former Presidents Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will be skipping the presidential inaugural lunch as well. Hence, it will be interesting to see if more traditions will be broken at the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trump.