Congressman Butterfield won't attend inauguration
By Melinda Harrell
Published in News on January 18, 2017 10:14 AM
U.S. House of Representative G.K. Butterfield, D- Dist. 1, announced Tuesday that he will not be attending president-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
He has become the first representative from North Carolina to boycott the event with Rep. Alma Adams, D-Dist. 12, following suit later in the day.
They are two among scores of Democrats serving in Congress to decline the inaugural invitation.
Butterfield represented Wayne County before U.S. Congressional lines were redrawn in 2011. Now, Wayne County is in District 7, which is represented by the unabashedly conservative Rep. David Rouzer.
"Donald Trump's brand of division and insult, coupled with his lack of knowledge of the magnitude of the office he is about to enter, leads me to the conclusion that president-elect Donald Trump is not prepared for the position of President and Commander-in-Chief," Butterfield said in a statement released on social media Tuesday.
"In addition, I have grave concerns about the Russian hacking of our election process and the role, if any, Donald Trump played in this unlawful activity."
Butterfield's announcement comes after a Georgia Democrat, Rep. John Lewis, said he felt Trump was not a legitimate president.
Lewis' comments were met with a firestorm of rebuke from Trump himself, tweeting of Lewis that he was all "talk, talk, talk" and "no acton."
Lewis is a civil rights legend who marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, Alabama.
He was arrested multiple times in the civil rights fights and was beaten.
Butterfield is the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, chief deputy whip for the House Democratic Caucus and co-chair of the State Medicaid Expansion Caucus.
"It is my hope that President Donald Trump will transform his behavior of insult and division, surround himself with knowledgeable thought leaders, and move our country in a positive direction. He should resist any effort to eliminate health care for 30 million Americans and fundamentally change the Medicare and Medicaid programs that provide health care to our citizens," Butterfield said.
In contrast, Wayne County's new representative Rouzer endorsed Trump during his campaign as well as advocated for the Republican Party's "A Better Way" platform, which subsequently called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
As of press time, Rouzer could not be reached to discuss his plans for the inauguration, but a staff member at his office did say he was flying into Washington D.C. from one of his local offices in North Carolina Thursday to attend.