Longtime South Dallas congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who may or may not be running for a 14th congressional term in 2018, does plan on attending Friday’s presidential inauguration. Unless it rains or snows. At which point, it seems she’ll skip it.
Johnson, the Democrat who’s represented District 30 since 1993, stopped by MSNBC on Monday to discuss whether she would stand with her more than 50 colleagues who are refusing to attend President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration on Friday. Many of the representatives joined the boycott after Trump’s Twitter tirade against civil rights icon and Georgia congressman John Lewis, who was instrumental in the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Johnson says she has a mix of Republicans and Democrats in her district (interesting note: neither Trump in 2016 nor Republican challenger Mitt Romney in 2012 managed to chart 20 percent of the vote in District 30) and she’s representing all of them.
“I have some Republican guests sand some Democrat guests that are attending. I will be there to greet them and hand them their tickets for attending and if the weather is pretty good, I will attend myself,” she said.
Asked to discuss the “deep conviction” that’s motivating so many of her colleagues to sit out, she said she understands why they’re choosing to boycott. “I can say I have great respect for John Lewis. I know that I’ve had the privilege of serving in the congress because of his efforts, along with many others.” She then vowed to work with Trump, but added this caveat: “I will not be backing up with this president.”
As of this writing, just two Texas representatives have vowed not to attend: Al Green, a Democrat of U.S. District 9, and Joaquin Castro, a Democrat of San Antonio.
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