Paul Ryan will attend Biden’s inauguration

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is planning on attending President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in less than two weeks, an aide to Ryan confirmed to The Hill. 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported Ryan’s plans, which were later confirmed to The Hill by longtime Ryan aide Kevin Seifert.  

“The peaceful transition of power is a hallmark of American democracy, and that’s why Speaker Ryan feels it is important to attend,” Seifert said in a statement to The Hill. 

The aide added that Ryan made the decision earlier this week to attend the Jan. 20 ceremony in person after receiving an invitation from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, chaired by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). 

Seifert said that Ryan’s RSVP came ahead of Wednesday’s riots that roiled the Capitol, as well as President Trump’s announcement that he would not attend the inauguration of his successor. 

“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” Trump tweeted Friday. 

Vice President Pence is expected to attend the event in some capacity, a source said Thursday, though his office maintained he had not been formally invited.

A spokesperson for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies said the outgoing president and vice president are never “formally invited” to the ceremonies. Sitting presidents have traditionally attended their successors’ inaugurations as a display of support for the peaceful transfer of power.

Trump Thursday evening for the first time since the November election acknowledged his electoral defeat. But before then, he had repeated claims that the election was “stolen” from him. Federal and state election officials have stated that the 2020 election was one of the safest in American history, adding that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. 

Five people died amid the chaos Wednesday on Capitol Hill, including a police officer who suffered injuries and a woman who was shot by a plainclothes officer.

Ryan responded to Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s death in a Friday tweet, calling the officer “a true patriot.” 

“He gave his life to protect the business of the People,” Ryan added. “We must never forget his sacrifice & serve justice to his killer.” 

My heart is heavy with the passing of Officer Brian Sicknick. A true patriot, he gave his life to protect the business of the People. We must never forget his sacrifice & serve justice to his killer. My deepest sympathies to Officer Sicknick’s family & the entire USCP force.

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) January 8, 2021

The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement that Sicknick was injured “while physically engaging with protesters” during the Wednesday riot.

While Ryan has largely kept a low profile since retiring from Congress in 2019, he released a statement last Sunday condemning the efforts by a group of congressional Republicans to overturn the 2020 election results. 

“It is difficult to conceive of a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of state-certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans,” Ryan wrote in the statement. 

“The Trump campaign had ample opportunity to challenge election results, and those efforts failed from lack of evidence,” the statement continued, before adding that “Joe Biden’s victory is entirely legitimate.”