Congresswoman vows to boycott Trump inauguration — here's what she will be doing instead

Rep. Barbara Lee will not be attending President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration next week.

Instead, she will be "preparing for resistance."

The California Democrat announced Thursday that she could not in good conscience attend Trump's inauguration, and blasted the real estate tycoon for running a "divisive and prejudiced campaign."

"Inaugurations are celebratory events, a time to welcome the peaceful transition of power and honor the new administration," Lee said. "I will not be celebrating or honoring an incoming president who rode racism, sexism, xenophobia and bigotry to the White House."

Trump's presidency will "normalize the most extreme fringes of the Republican Party," the 70-year-old Democratic lawmaker argued.

"On Inauguration Day, I will not be celebrating. I will be organizing and preparing for resistance," she said.

Lee continued:

Donald Trump ran one of the most divisive and prejudiced campaigns in modern history. He began his campaign by insulting Mexican immigrants, pledging to build a wall between the United States and Mexico and then spent a year and a half denigrating communities of color and normalizing bigotry. He called women "pigs," stoked Islamophobia, and attacked a Gold Star family. He mocked a disabled reporter and appealed to people’s worst instincts.  I cannot in good conscience attend an inauguration that would celebrate this divisive approach to governance.

After the election, many hoped the president-elect would turn toward unifying our country. Instead he has shown us that he will utilize the same tools of division he employed on the campaign trail as our nation’s commander in chief. We need look no further than the team he is assembling to find signals that the era of Trump will be one of chaos and devastation for our communities.

Lee isn't the only Democratic elected official who will boycott the inauguration. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) and Katherine Clark (Mass.) also plan to skip the ceremony in protest.