Ivanka Trump.Photo: Ross D Franklin/AP/Shutterstock
Despite earlier tabloid reports to the contrary,Ivanka Trumpwill not be in attendance at the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-electJoe Biden.
“Ivanka is not expected to attend the inauguration nor was she ever expected to,” a White House official tells PEOPLE.
The news comes one week after a violent mob of supporters of PresidentDonald Trumpdescended on the U.S. Capitol in an attempted coup. At least five people have died as a result of the violence perpetrated that day.
While her father has been widely condemned for inciting the violence in the Capitol, Ivanka, 39, has also come under fire for asince-deleted tweetpublished during the riots, in which she called the group “American Patriots” while urging them to halt the violence.
After she deleted the tweet, shewrote: “Peaceful protest is patriotic. Violence is unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
Her husband Jared Kushner’s plans aren’t known, and a spokesman for him did not respond to a request for comment.
Vice President Mike Pence, meanwhile, isexpected to attendthe event, which will include heightened security and feature a smaller crowd due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The news that Pence, 61, planned to attend the inauguration came after he publicly broke with the president regarding attempts to overthrow the results of the November presidential election.
Going against Trump’s wishes, Pence announced that he could not change the results of the election, and would thereforeaffirm Biden’s winduring the certification of Electoral College votes.
That certification process was cut short, however, when Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, forcing lawmakers including Pence to evacuate and hide.
In his remarks delivered roughly one hour before the violence began to unfold, Trump, 74, encouraged his supporters to “fight like Hell” and march to the Capitol.
In a tweet published after he left the stage, Trump attacked Pence, tweeting that his own vice president “didn’t have the courage” to overturn the election results, as he had pressured him to do.
Over the weekend, disturbing videos of the Capitol riots were shared on Twitter, some of which showed insurrectionists chanting the phrase “Hang Mike Pence” during the attack.
In one of his final tweets before Twittersuspended him indefinitely,Trump announced thathe would not be attending Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.
Last month, inaugural event planners announced that the bulk of the ceremonies would be remote, and include a virtual parade across the country to honor American heroes.
Former PresidentsBill Clinton,George W. BushandBarack Obamaare expected to be at the swearing-in ceremony, as well as former Secretary of StateHillary Clintonand her fellow former first ladiesLaura BushandMichelle Obama.
source: people.com
