Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to attend inauguration, Reps. Gallego, Grijalva to skip
Jan 17, 2017, 9:00 AM | Updated: 11:31 am
(AP Photos; screenshot)
PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will be going to Washington to attend the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump, but two elected Arizona officials will be skipping it.
Reps. Ruben Gallego and Raul Grijalva will be among the three dozen or so Democrats in Congress who plan to boycott Friday’s inauguration.
We must stand against Trump's bigotries- birther conspiracies, attacks on Gold⭐️ parents & civil rights heroes. I won't attend inauguration.
— Ruben Gallego (@RepRubenGallego) January 17, 2017
I will not be attending the inauguration. Instead, I will be spending the day in Tucson with my constituents.https://t.co/Ylzc3fOJie
— Rep. Raúl Grijalva (@standwithraul) January 15, 2017
Some of the 38 U.S. representatives had already said they weren’t going, but others joined after fellow Rep. John Lewis of Georgia said he didn’t consider Trump a “legitimate president” and then Trump attacked him on Twitter.
Grijalva told House members on Friday that he would be in Tucson but that his action was not one of disrespect of the office of the president.
“The majority of voters rejected Trump. They deserve respect. … Rather than participate in the inauguration, I will be participating in my district and reaffirming, and renewing, this democracy, and the people that are part of it,” Grijalva said in his statement.
Ducey’s office said the governor would fly to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.
The Republican governor didn’t fully support Trump until he locked up the GOP nomination right before the party convention in July. Ducey had said he wouldn’t support any candidate for the primaries.
In August, Ducey introduced Trump during the candidate’s stop in Phoenix to release his immigration policy.
Trump made several campaign trips to Arizona,
Ducey had said no matter what he would support the Republican nominee over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the election.
Ducey was scheduled to be back in the state Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.