Trump Spox: Dems Skipping Inauguration Are Freeing Up ‘Some Great Seats’

Sean Spicer, incoming White House Press Secretary, stops to talk to members of the media in the lobby of the Trump Tower Donald Trump transition meetings, New York, USA - 10 Jan 2017 (Rex Features via AP Images)
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Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Democrats were “within their right” to skip Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday, even as the President-elect continued his tirade against Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) for his plans to boycott the festivities.

“When you wake up on Friday and see the enormous crowds that are there, you’re going to recognize that it is going to be an inauguration for all Americans,” Spicer told reporters on a Tuesday morning conference call. “Obviously we’d love for every member of Congress to attend, but if they don’t, that’s some great seats that other folks can hopefully partake in.”

Spicer said he expected an “enormous outpouring of support and interest” in attending the inauguration despite the mounting list of Democratic lawmakers who have said they will not attend.

“It’s a shame that these folks don’t want to be part of the peaceful transfer of power but it’s within their right,” he said.

A number of the Democrats who declared their intention to skip the inauguration cited Trump’s attack on Lewis, a civil rights icon, as the final straw.

In an interview released in part on Friday, Lewis said that he does not view Trump as a “legitimate president” and does not plan to attend the inauguration for the first time in his congressional career.

Trump hit back on Twitter, calling Lewis “all talk, talk, talk,” and continued to criticize Lewis on Tuesday morning.

Trump was apparently citing a 2001 report by the Washington Post about members of the Congressional Black Caucus who planned to skip President George W. Bush’s inauguration.

According to the Post, Lewis “spent the day in his Atlanta district” and “thought it would be hypocritical to attend Bush’s swearing-in because he doesn’t believe Bush is the true elected president.”

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