Half Of Brooklyn’s Congressional Delegation Join Boycott Of Inauguration

Half Of Brooklyn’s Congressional Delegation Join Boycott Of Inauguration
The U.S. Navy Band marches on Pennsylvania Avenue during the presidential inauguration parade in Washington, D.C., Jan. 21, 2013 after Barack Obama was elected to a second term in office. (Photo: E.J. Hersom / defenseimagery.mil via Creative Commons)

At least half of Brooklyn’s six members in the U.S. House of Representatives will be boycotting the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States later this week.

Democrats Nydia Velazquez, Jerrold Nadler and Yvette D. Clarke have all stated publicly in recent days that they will not be attending the presidential inauguration. At least 23 members of Congress across the country have said they will boycott the event that marks the peaceful transfer of executive authority.

“I will NOT attend the inauguration of @realDonaldTrump. When you insult @repjohnlewis, you insult America,” said Congresswoman Clarke via twitter.

Clarke, who represents sections of Flatbush, Midwood, Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Flatlands, Sheepshead Bay and Park Slope, was referring to president-elect Trump’s rebuke of Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis this weekend. Lewis stated Friday that he will boycott the inauguration and questions the legitimacy of the Trump presidency because of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“@repjohnlewis is a national hero and I stand with him! I also am not attending inauguration given the tone of @realDonaldTrump’s campaign,” said Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez in a similar vein via twitter.

Velazquez represents North Brooklyn and sections of the Brooklyn waterfront, including Red Hook, Gowanus and Sunset Park. She said that she would be participating in the Women’s March on Washington the following day.

Jerrold Nadler (sections of Manhattan, along with parts of Borough Park, Kensington, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights and Gravesend) told CNN that Trump’s treatment of Lewis was “the last straw” for his decision not to attend Friday’s inauguration.

“I cannot go because of the president-elect’s inflammatory comments, his racist campaign, his conflicts of interest, his refusal to disclose his taxes,” Nadler told CNN.

We were unable to learn whether Democrat Hakeem Jeffries will attend, but over the weekend he stated via twitter that “John Lewis did more for America on 1 day March 7, 1965 than Trump will ever do in his entire lifetime.”

Jeffries represents sections of Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York, Canarsie, Coney Island, Mill Basin and Marine Park.

It appears that Democrat Carolyn Maloney (Greenpoint, along with sections of Manhattan and Queens) and the Brooklyn delegation’s only Republican, Dan Donovan (southern Brooklyn and sections of Staten Island), will attend the inauguration.