U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will not attend the inauguration ceremony of his successor, Joe Biden, two days after supporters of the president stormed the Capitol harangued by him to reverse his electoral defeat.
“To all who have asked me, I will not go to the swearing-in on January 20,” Trump wrote in a laconic tweet.
Trump, who for two months has been denouncing without evidence an election fraud against him, acknowledged on Thursday that his term was coming to an end. And, while he did not explicitly admit Biden’s triumph, he promised to “ensure a smooth, orderly, and smooth transition of power.”
After the chaos at the Capitol on Wednesday in Congress, in a session of both Houses chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, he certified Biden’s victory in the Nov. 3 election on Thursday morning by 306 to 232 Electoral College, the body that decides the winner of the White House.