Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) will not attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, a spokesman confirmed Thursday.
The speaker did not give a reason for Pelosi's decision to skip the ceremonial event scheduled to take place at the US Capitol on Monday. The decision was previously reported by ABC News.
Pelosi, 84, who has retained her political prominence and influence in the Democratic Party – and her House seat – despite giving up her longtime leadership role after Republicans won control of the House in 2022, has long had a contentious relationship with Trump.
She also broke her hip and was hospitalized last month while traveling with a bipartisan congressional delegation in Luxembourg – although she has since returned to the halls of Congress, including to certify Trump's election victory on Jan. 6.
Trump did not attend President Biden's inauguration after losing to Biden in the 2020 election. He also denied losing despite all evidence to the contrary – a lie he maintains to this day. He was the first president since then to miss his successor's inauguration Andrew Johnson did this in 1869.
Pelosi called Trump “crazy” and unfit for office. Trump called Pelosi “evil” and an “enemy” of the country. The couple has been fighting for years. Pelosi raised eyebrows when she tore up a copy of Trump's State of the Union address behind her in 2020. Trump infuriated the former speaker by mocking a violent attack on her husband at the couple's San Francisco home.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama also announced this She will not attend the inaugurationHowever, according to the Associated Press, former President Obama will do so. The former first lady was also an outspoken critic of Trump.