While Ellison skips, most Democrats will attend inauguration

Published 9:37 am Wednesday, January 18, 2017

ST. PAUL  — U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison may be the only Minnesota Democrat making a stand by not showing up at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.

The Minneapolis Democrat announced Monday he’d boycott Friday’s ceremony, joining more than two dozen lawmakers in skipping the event. Ellison is the nation’s first Muslim congressman and is currently running to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee.

But his six fellow congressional Democrats are planning to be there. Representatives for Reps. Betty McCollum, Rick Nolan, Tim Walz and Collin Peterson said Tuesday they plan to attend. Both U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken are also planning to go.

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McCollum said she’s attending so Trump knows that she and many others will stop him from “further hurting our country.”