Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said early Tuesday that he believes President Trump should “probably” attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in January.
“I think that we’ve only had a couple of presidents in history who didn’t” attend their successors’ inauguration, Gingrich told conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt. “John Quincy Adams didn’t. And the Republican in 1868 didn’t. But other than those two, it’s a routine.”
“If he does not go, I think he has to explain why,” Gingrich added. “So I think Trump’s got to decide, you know, what best communicates his message. I think his instinct is not to go, because he’s convinced the election was stolen.”
Hewitt also asked Gingrich whether he believes the president’s refusal to accept the result of the election could hurt the 2024 bid Trump is reportedly considering.
“No. I think in 2024, if Biden has done an amazing job, and everything’s working, Biden will be hard to beat. In 2024, if, as I suspect will happen, all of the various left-wing policies fail, and we’re in a total mess, nobody’s going to look back and worry about this period,” Gingrich responded.
Trump earlier this month told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade that he “[didn’t] want to talk about” whether he would attend Biden’s inauguration, while continuing to claim Biden “lost and lost badly.” The Electoral College earlier this month affirmed Biden’s win and a growing number of Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have called him the president-elect.
The president is reportedly considering officially kicking off a 2024 bid timed to coincide with Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Rep.-elect Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has also called on Trump to attend the inauguration.
“The reality is when the outgoing and the incoming president join, it is a unique time. It’s a time in which America respects both of these as they transition, and it’s an important time, and I hope it will occur,” Issa said last week.