POLITICS

A day away from Capitol to protest Trump's inauguration

Jeff Pillets
Staff Writer, @jpillets
N.J. Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, shown on the Democratic National Convention floor in Philadelphia last summer, chose to attend a church service in Trenton rather than the inauguration.

It was one of those historical moments everyone will remember: where they were the moment Donald J. Trump was sworn in.

For more than 60 Democratic members of Congress, that moment was spent far from the Capitol steps, boycotting the inauguration of the 45th president and instead staking out what they said was the higher ground of church vigils, street rallies and panel discussions.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey led some 500 people in prayer at Trenton's Shiloh Baptist Church, where people wearing “Obama” caps wept openly even as some watched Trump's inauguration speech on their cellphones.

Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, who called his boycott a "non-violent oppositional tool,” spent the day holed up in his Washington, D.C., office offering aid and comfort to constituents.

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Other dissenters made the rounds in their home districts as they prepped for weekend protest rallies and strategized with supporters, but had trouble keeping their focus off politics or the eye-popping history unfolding in Washington.

California Rep. Paul Ruiz, who this week suggested Trump was not “a real president,” used his day away from D.C. to get ready for the seventh annual Veteran's Expo in Beaumont, California, where vets from Desert Storm to Afghanistan will be honored Saturday.

Missouri Rep. William Lacy Clay addressed public school students in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton and posted Twitter photos of Barack Obama under the tag #44Always.

In Pennsylvania, Rep. Dwight Evans took to Twitter to publish photos of himself with health-care workers at the Philadelphia Free Library's Inauguration Day Civic Engagement Fair.

Evans also sent out footage of inspiring inauguration speeches from John Kennedy, LBJ and others, and in a barrage of tweets reminded his followers that Trump’s promised repeal of Obamacare could lead to unemployment and, for many, even worse outcomes.

"Repealing the Affordable Care Act  means 137,000 lost jobs ... and people dying,'' said Evans, forwarding a message from his state's Democratic caucus.

The decision to skip the inauguration did not come easy for many lawmakers who said they sought to weigh their respect for the Constitution and Office of the President with their aversion to Donald Trump.

Republicans and several leading Democrats said the inaugural snub is ill-advised, a disrespectful jab at the Office of President and a constitutional ceremony that should rise above politics.

"I don't think it's good for democracy,' said former Obama adviser David Axelrod.

Many other Democratic members of congress, especially some in key leadership posts and others in red or purplish electoral districts where support for the new president is high, rejected a boycott.

For some who did not attend, the decision was made easier by Trump's attack on Rep. John Lewis. The civil-rights champion has said that the real-estate magnate's ethical conflicts, coupled with Russian efforts to hack the election for the Republicans, make Trump an "illegitimate" president.

Some lawmakers who remained undecided up until recent days joined other boycotters in using their free Inauguration Day as a time to simply stay at home and ponder the future of the nation.

After many years attending the pageant at the Capitol, they had few plans for a day usually reserved for pomp and celebration.

Only last week, Texas Congressman Filemon Vela became the fourth Democrat from his state to snub Trump’s swearing-in. Aides said he had nothing scheduled Friday.

Vela, a member of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s inner circle, said he had every intention of attending until a group of immigrant students visiting Washington from his district were targeted with insults.

The students, Vela said in a news release, “were subjected to comments of ‘beaners,’ 'burritos' and ‘wetbacks’” from other visitors at the nation’s capital.

“One student was even spit on,” said Vela, who made headlines during the campaign when he said Trump could “shove” the wall he planned to build along the Rio Grande. “Then, Donald Trump made his final Cabinet selection ensuring that there would be no Hispanic representation in the Cabinet for the first time in 36 years,” he said.

Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson planned to spend Inauguration Day in "reflection," his office said, thinking about how he can save Social Security and health care for 161,000 Mississippians who have gained coverage through Obamacare.

Thompson also found time Friday to tweet out "a user-friendly guide to tenants' rights.''

Among the many Democrats who struggled with the idea of a boycott, Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson found a personal way out of Trump's party -- through her goddaughter's wedding Saturday.

"I struggled for months to make the choice between the ceremony and a family wedding also scheduled to take place this weekend," said Wilson, who watched the inauguration from her district office outside Miami with a group of graduates from an education program she founded for young minority men.

As the men watched Trump, she said, feelings for the outgoing president mixed with concern for the future.

"They feel for obvious reasons an emotional connection to Mr. Obama, but the next few years could profoundly impact their lives, and it is important for them to be equally engaged," Wilson said.

USA TODAY Network reporters Alexandra Glorioso, Sam R. Hall, John C. Moritz, Vik Jolly, Sherry Barkas, Jesse Marx, Teresa Boeckel, Nathaniel Cary and Morgan Watkins contributed to this article.