Congressmen Brown, Raskin Skipping Inauguration

Two Maryland congressmen are skipping the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Reps. Anthony Brown and Jamie Raskin, both freshmen in the Maryland delegation, announced Tuesday they will not attend the swearing-in.

On Twitter Tuesday, Brown, whose district includes parts of Prince George's and Anne Arundel Counties, showed support for civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis. The Georgia congressman made headlines over the weekend for challenging Trump's legitimacy to be the next president and erroneously claiming that Trump's inauguration would be the first he will have missed since coming to Congress three decades ago.

In fact, Lewis had skipped President George W. Bush's inauguration in 2001, also as a form of dissent, his office later clarified.

Lewis said last week that he would skip Trump's swearing in on Friday, telling NBC News that he didn't view Trump as a legitimate president.

"I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," Lewis said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday.

Skipping Inauguration.@RepJohnLewis a civil rights hero. Enormous responsibility to be POTUS.I respect the office, can't tolerate disrespect — Anthony G. Brown (@AnthonyBrownMD4) January 16, 2017

"I respect the office, can't tolerate disrespect," Brown tweeted.

Raskin said that for the last couple of weeks, he's assumed he would attend, if only to see the peaceful transfer of power. The Lewis spat was the last straw, however.

“But these are not normal times and I cannot pretend as if they are," Raskin said in a statement. "The moral and political legitimacy of this presidency are in the gravest doubt. I cannot get over Trump’s refusal to deal seriously with the constitutional problems caused by his business entanglements with foreign governments and corporations. I cannot get past his stubborn denial of the enormity of Russia’s efforts to sabotage and undermine our presidential election (regardless of the victor). I cannot stomach his relentless trafficking in bigotry, misogyny and fear. And I am outraged and confounded by his continuing provocations against civil rights heroes, such as my colleague the great Congressman John Lewis, union leaders and other individual citizens."

He said he doesn't take pride in skipping the event any more than he would take price in doing, but said that these kinds of "moral and political conflicts are our destiny for a while."

Gov. Larry Hogan, who made a point of not supporting Trump or attending the Republican convention, will attend the inauguration.

The number of Democrats boycotting Trump's inauguration continued to increase, including Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a top contender to lead the Democratic National Committee, as well as many black and Hispanic lawmakers. Top Democrats like House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York will attend, however, and none of the Senate Democrats said they'll skip the inauguration.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer shrugged off the protest and indicated they would give away the seats.

"We'd love for every member of Congress to attend but if they don't, we've got some great seats for others to partake in. It's a shame that these folks don't want to be part of the peaceful transfer of power," Spicer told reporters on a morning call.

Trump and other Republicans have dismissed the boycott and complaints, saying Democrats are sore losers who need to accept the results of the election and move on. Democrats control 194 House seats.

While many Democrats were furious with the outcome of the drawn out 2000 election in which George W. Bush defeated Al Gore after recounts and a Supreme Court ruling, they generally attended Bush's inauguration as the nation's 43rd president.

The House is out of session most of this week and roll call votes are not anticipated, so other lawmakers in both parties may skip the trip.

Obama repeatedly faced questions during the 2008 campaign about the widely debunked claim that he was not a U.S. citizen and that his birth certificate was a fake. Trump, in fact, perpetuated that notion for many years before a brief statement last year that Obama was a citizen. Republicans attended Obama's two inaugurations.