Former Speaker Pelosi Skipping Trump Inauguration
WASHINGTON — One of President-elect Donald Trump’s long-time foes on Capitol Hill won’t be on hand to see him take the oath of office for a second time on Monday.
A spokesperson confirmed on Thursday that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will not attend the high-profile event, but did not disclose the reason for her absence.
Pelosi did attend Trump’s inauguration in 2017, when she was House speaker, but several things have changed since then — the House leadership is now in the hands of the Republicans, and Pelosi herself has stepped down as a leader in her own caucus.
The former speaker also recently underwent hip replacement surgery after falling on a marble staircase while on an official trip to Luxembourg shortly before Christmas.
Though Pelosi did return to Capitol Hill both for the first day of the new Congress and the count of the electoral vote on Jan. 6, neither of those events required her to sit outside for hours in freezing temperatures.
The current forecast is for the temperature to dip to 11 degrees by the time attendees start heading to the west front of the Capitol, and the temperature is only expected to climb to a high of 25 degrees when the oath of office is administered.
Local forecasters are warning that it could feel much, much colder due to the wind chill, and that the temperature is expected to go down to about 20 degrees during the inaugural parade.
None of these are ideal conditions for someone to be in following major surgery. Though most patients who receive a hip replacement surgery can resume most of their daily activities in four to six weeks, complete recovery can take up to a year.
Of course, the battles between Trump and Pelosi during his first term quickly became the stuff of local legend, like the time she pointed a finger at him during a White House photo opportunity or when she famously stood over his shoulder at the conclusion of his State of the Union in 2020 and methodically ripped her copy of his speech to pieces.
Pelosi’s animus toward Trump grew after the Jan. 6, 2021, siege on the Capitol, and the feeling, evidently, is mutual.
At various times during his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump assailed Pelosi on the stump, calling her “crooked,” “crazy” and “a bad person.”
Former First Lady Michelle Obama has also announced she won’t be attending the inauguration.
As for the temperature, the normal high for Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C., is 42 degrees with a low of about 26.
Inaugurations have been held on Jan. 20 since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second inauguration in 1937.
President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985 was by far the coldest with a high of only 7 degrees and a wind chill of -20.
For several hours before the big event, the temperature hovered at around -2 degrees.
Prior to Reagan setting the record, President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961 was the coldest, at 22 degrees, and like Monday’s event, it was also accompanied by snow on the ground.
More recently, the title holder for a presidency getting off to a cold start was former President Barack Obama, whose first inauguration was held in conditions similar to those expected Monday — highs in the upper 20s and wind chills in the teens.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
