Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) made an unprecedented attempt to rescind former President Donald Trump‘s invitation to Joe Biden‘s presidential inauguration following the January 6 Capitol insurrection, according to a forthcoming book by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.
Karl writes in Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show that McConnell was concerned that Trump’s presence at the inauguration would trigger another wave of violence aimed at disrupting the peaceful transfer of power from his administration to Biden’s.
“McConnell felt he could not give Trump another opportunity to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power,” writes Karl. “McConnell wanted to get a letter together from the top four congressional leaders informing Trump that he had been disinvited.”
But the plan eventually collapsed when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) informed Trump’s staff of McConnell’s intention.
“Kevin McCarthy opposed the idea, arguing it would be an important message of unity to have Trump attend the ceremony as Biden took the oath of office,” according to Karl. “But McConnell was determined to disinvite Trump regardless of whether McCarthy would sign the letter.”
The heads-up Trump received from McCarthy triggered his final two tweets before Twitter permanently banned him from its platform.
“The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!” Trump posted on Friday, January 8 at 9:46 a.m.
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20,” Trump added less than an hour later.
Karl explains in Betrayal that “Trump apparently wanted people to think it was his decision alone to become the first outgoing president after an election to fail to attend an inauguration since Andrew Johnson skipped the inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant in 1869.”
Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show is scheduled for release on Tuesday.
