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Trump/BoycottBack
[Published: Wednesday January 18 2017]

 Trump inauguration boycott escalates

Washington 18 Jan (ANA) - A rising number of Democratic lawmakers have said they plan to boycott President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration at the US Capitol on 20 January. More than 50 House Democrats are refusing to watch as Mr Trump is sworn in as the 45th US president amidst a feud between the newly elected president and the civil rights activist and congressman, John Lewis. Mr Lewis, a revered veteran of the 1960s struggle, sparked controversy on Friday when he called Mr Trump's victory illegitimate because of Russia's alleged interference in the election. The president-elect hit back on Twitter, attacking the Georgia lawmaker as "all talk, talk, talk - no action or results", which prompted a wave of outrage from people saying if anyone embodied action, it was the 76-year-old. Dozens of members of Congress have announced they will skip the event. "I will not celebrate a man who preaches a politics of division and hate," Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota tweeted following the row. "Skipping Inauguration. @RepJohnLewis a civil rights hero. Enormous responsibility to be POTUS. I respect the office, can't tolerate disrespect," Maryland Representative Anthony G Brown also tweeted. The number grew to more than 40 over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, but that did not stop Mr Trump from continuing to rail against the civil rights icon on Tuesday. The president-elect tweeted that Mr Lewis had falsely claimed this would be the first inauguration he has missed since joining Congress in 1987. "WRONG (or lie)!" Mr Trump tweeted, saying Mr Lewis had skipped George W Bush's inauguration in 2001. Mr Lewis' office confirmed that he did miss Mr Bush's ceremony. "His absence at that time was also a form of dissent," said spokeswoman Brenda Jones. "He did not believe the outcome of that election, including the controversies around the results in Florida and the unprecedented intervention of the US Supreme Court, reflected a free, fair and open democratic process."(ANA)
FA/ANA/18 January 2017----
 

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