WASHINGTON — More than 60 congressional Democrats have said they are planning to boycott President-elect Trump’s inauguration Friday, but one Texas Dem said his decision is linked to racial epithets directed at his constituents.
Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas), whose border district hugs the Gulf coast, said in a statement on his Facebook page that he’s “hoped that this Friday’s Inauguration would be a moment of healing and outreach, but yesterday, two days before the Inauguration, two things occurred that leave me no choice but to boycott the event.”
“While visiting Washington, DC, 40 migrant students from my district were subjected to comments of ‘beaners,’ ‘burritos,’ and ‘wetbacks’ from Inauguration attendees,” Vela wrote. “One student was even spit on.”
“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.”
Trump named former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as secretary of Agriculture. Former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado was reportedly under consideration for the job, leading former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to lash out at Trump: “Obviously, the choice wasn’t based on substance, because if it was based on substance, Abel would have gotten the job hands down.”
Vela said Trump’s “repeated acts of disrespect for the 33 million Americans of Hispanic descent are historic in modern times.”
“The hope that his actions as president would not match his political rhetoric is becoming more and more of a distant dream,” the congressman continued. “One would think that an American president in the 21st Century would be dedicated to eradicating racism once and for all. However, Mr. Trump has turned a blind eye to overt racism. Indeed, in many instances, Mr. Trump himself has stirred the seeds of bigotry. This is an ominous sign for the future of the American presidency and the United States of America.”
A former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), said he will attend the inauguration because “this, in many ways, has nothing to do with Donald Trump.”
“I think it’s important for me to come to Washington and to witness the uniquely American transition — peaceful transition to power. And so that’s how I watch things. I don’t necessarily agree with Mr. Trump. I disagree with a lot of things he’s said and some of the things he’s done,” Cleaver told Fox today.
“…It has something to do with a system that has not — a matchless system that has not been even closely imitated by any other nation. And that is what we’re going to do at that ceremony tomorrow at 12:00 noon.”
Cleaver said he believes his colleagues choosing to boycott are mostly “responding from what they’re hearing from their constituents.”
“Some of them make decisions that I wouldn’t necessarily make, but I don’t think that makes them wrong and me right,” he said. “I’m right for me.”
“The great challenge for people in public office, particularly in Congress, is to make sure that what we say matches what we do,” added Cleaver, who is also a minister. “And I have talked about, you know, trying to stop the race to the bottom in terms of civility or incivility.”
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