Becca Balint, a progressive gay Democratic congresswoman from Vermont, is attending Donald Trump’s inauguration to show she’s not intimidated.
Stay up to date LGBTQ+ News and Politics. Sign up for The Advocate’s email newsletter.
“My presence at the inauguration will say, ‘I see you and I know what you’re talking about,’ and I will not be intimidated by you.” Balint wrote Friday’s commentary. CourierNews Service. “This will be a way to show Americans and audiences around the world that, unlike Mr. Trump himself, I respect the people’s vote. Four years later, he still are lying about the elections. And the Republican leaders in both the House and the Senate are not only complicit in these lies; they have facilitated them, and they are now falling into their trap. ”
“I will sit with other members of Congress and watch Donald Trump be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States,” she wrote. “I don’t enjoy it. In fact, I fully expect to be left with a taste of bile in my mouth. But I feel like I need to be there.” But she and other Democrats She said their presence will embody the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: He stands up to challenges and controversy. ”
She pointed out that Trump did not attend President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration because he refused to acknowledge that Biden had won the election. “I will be there to remind you that in our democracy, we don’t just attend a peaceful transfer of power when a candidate wins,” she said.
She continued that she recognizes the threat President Trump poses to democracy and will oppose Trump-supported policies that are harmful to the American people, such as “huge tax giveaways to billionaires.” “I approach the next four years with clarity, a clear conscience, and a deep commitment to do whatever I can, whenever and wherever I can, to strengthen our fragile and ailing democracy.” she concluded. “And to do meaningful, consequential work on behalf of our constituents, making life better for them and for Americans across the country.”
Mr. Balint is Vermont’s only member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is the first woman and first LGBTQ+ person elected to the post. She is starting her second term.
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
