Friday, July 31, 2020

Trump did not attend John Lewis' funeral. 
INSTEAD HE TWEETED AN ELECTORAL TROPE TO DISTRACT EVERYONE 
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/07/trump-cant-delay-elections.html

Here are 4 other major funerals he missed while president.Oma Seddiq,Business Insider•July 30, 2020

Former President Barack Obama addresses the service during the funeral for the late Rep. John Lewis.

Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool


President Donald Trump did not attend the late Rep. John Lewis' funeral in Atlanta on Thursday.


Trump also did not attend memorial services held for the civil rights icon earlier this week in Washington, DC.


Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton each delivered eulogies for Lewis at his funeral.


Other prominent funerals Trump has not attended include the late Rep. Elijah Cummings, Rep. John Dingell, Sen. John McCain and former First Lady Barbara Bush.


Former President Barack Obama appeared to take a jab at President Donald Trump at the funeral service of the late Rep. John Lewis in Atlanta on Thursday.

"Even as we sit here, there are those in power who are doing their darndest to discourage people from voting," Obama said during his eulogy, seemingly alluding to Trump's recent unsubstantiated claims that vote-by-mail leads to widespread fraud. "Even undermining the postal service in the run-up to an election, that's going to be dependent on mail-in ballots, so people don't get sick."

Though he did not mention Trump by name, Obama emphasized that his pointed remarks were not off-script: "I know this is a celebration of John's life. There are some who might say, 'We shouldn't dwell on such things.' But that's why I'm talking about it. John Lewis devoted his time on this earth fighting the very attacks on democracy."

He received a standing ovation from the crowd, which was filled with several notable officials including former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — who also delivered eulogies — but not Trump.

The president earlier this week also skipped Lewis' memorial service in Washington, DC.

It's not the first time Trump has missed a funeral, though he has attended a couple as president, including services for the late Rev. Billy Graham and former President George H.W. Bush.


Here are four prominent funerals Trump did not attend:

Rep. Elijah Cummings
A military honor guard lays the U.S. flag on the casket of Rep. Elijah Cummings during his funeral service on October 25, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings' funeral service took place last October in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, part of the district he represented since 1996. The former chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee, who helped lead the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump that was taking place at the time, died at age 68.

In the months leading up to his death, Trump engaged in an escalating public feud with the congressman, calling him a "racist," launching attacks at Baltimore, and appearing to mock a reported burglary at his home.

Trump skipped the funeral. A copy of the president's schedule that day showed he had nothing on his agenda at the time.

Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and former First Ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton were all in attendance, among many other key lawmakers and high-ranked officials, including now Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows, who delivered a tearful speech in honor of his "dear friend."

Rep. John Dingell
Rep. Debbie Dingell bows her head with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during funeral services for her husband, former Rep. John Dingell.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Getty Images

Rep. John Dingell, the longest-serving member in Congress ever at more than 59 years, died at age 92 last February. A funeral service in Washington, DC, was attended by former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as former Republican House Speaker John Boehner, among others. Former Vice President Joe Biden attended another funeral held in Michigan, Dingell's home state.

Trump was not at either funeral, but he ordered American flags to be flown at half-mast after Dingell's death to honor him. Months later, Trump suggested the Democratic congressman might be in hell aftter his wife, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), voted to support impeachment.

"Maybe he's looking up, I don't know," Trump said during a campaign rally in Michigan. "But let's assume he's looking down."

Rep. Debbie Dingell called his comment a gut punch.

Sen. John McCain
Cindy McCain arrives at a memorial service for her husband, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in Washington, Sept. 1, 2018.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo

In perhaps the most controversial of Trump's missed funerals, the president did not attend the late Arizona Sen. John McCain's ceremony in September 2018 because he was not invited.

Cindy McCain, the senator's wife, explained that she wanted the service to remain "with dignity."

"Even though it was a very public funeral, we are still family. For all of us and for the sake of my own children, I didn't want any disruption. This was about John, not about anything else at all," she said at the time.

Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, and other members of his administration attended the funeral.

The president had been in a longtime dispute with the late senator, hurling insults at the revered naval officer who died aged 81 after a battle with cancer. McCain, who was much admired by politicians from both sides of the aisle, had not shied away from speaking out against Trump, unlike many from within his party.

Trump continued to spew repeated attacks against McCain even after his death.

Former First Lady Barbara Bush
Former Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush arrive for the funeral for former first lady Barbara Bush on April 21, 2018.

David J. Phillip/AP Photo

Former First Lady Barbara Bush's funeral held in Houston, Texas, was attended by more than 1,000 people. Trump was not one of them.

She died in April 2018 at the age of 92 and was remembered as a beloved public figure of the World War II generation. Her husband, the late former President George H.W. Bush was at the service with his sons, former President George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Among the people gathered also included the Obamas and Clintons, as well as First Lady Melania Trump.

White House officials noted in advance that President Donald Trump would not attend "to avoid disruptions due to added security, and out of respect for the Bush family and friends attending the service."



Trump’s Sudden Photo-Op Just Happened To Be During Obama's John Lewis Eulogy
S.V. Date HuffPost July 30, 2020


WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump had his public schedule clear through mid-afternoon Thursday — right up until his predecessor Barack Obama was about to take the dais at civil rights leader John Lewis’ funeral 600 miles to the southwest — when suddenly, reporters and cameras were called into the Oval Office.

As Obama remembered the Georgia congressman who died last week, Trump spoke to the family of murder victim Vanessa Guillen, promising he would take action.

The White House denied there was any attempt to “counter-program” Obama’s widely anticipated remarks by creating a competing news event. “This meeting has been scheduled for weeks,” spokesman Judd Deere said. “That’s a disgusting question, by the way.”

One White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Guillen’s family asked for the press to be invited in. It’s believed that a colleague killed Guillen, a Fort Hood, Texas, soldier, and later committed suicide.

Trump’s move, in any event, adds to a long pattern for a man who rose to prominence in the Republican Party based on his willingness to push a racist conspiracy theory that the first Black president was not born in the United States and was therefore elected illegitimately.

From the day he took office, Trump has also shown irritation at comparisons to his predecessor. In a speech in front of a wall memorializing CIA officers killed in the line of duty, Trump lied that his inaugural crowd had been larger than Obama’s. He has repeatedly, and falsely, claimed that the economy under his watch had been stronger than Obama’s. He has accused Obama of “spying” on his campaign — without explaining why he willingly used documents stolen by Russian intelligence in the final month of his 2016 campaign, even though he had been told they were stolen by Russian intelligence.

Obama was among a long list of dignitaries at Lewis’ funeral, including former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The hero of the 1960s civil rights protests died July 17 of pancreatic cancer.

Trump not only skipped the funeral in Atlanta but chose not to travel the 2 miles to the Capitol to pay his respects during the two days that Lewis’ body was lying in state.


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