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George W Bush will attend Biden’s inauguration, while Carter will miss it

George W Bush will attend Biden’s inauguration, while Carter will miss it

Joe Biden

Former President George W. Bush, who became one of the first key Republicans to acknowledge the electoral victory of President-elect Joe Biden in November, will attend Biden’s inauguration this month — even as President Donald Trump and his GOP allies refuse to accept the results.

A spokesperson for Bush, the only other living Republican president, announced Tuesday night that Bush and former first lady Laura Bush would travel to Washington for the Jan. 20 ceremony.

“I believe this will be the eighth inauguration they’ve had the privilege of attending — President Trump’s being the most recent — and witnessing the peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of our democracy that never gets old,” the spokesperson, Freddy Ford, said on Twitter.

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On the same day that Bush’s office confirmed that he would attend Biden’s swearing-in, a spokeswoman for the oldest living former president, Jimmy Carter, said Tuesday that the Democrat would miss the inaugural.

“President and Mrs. Carter will not travel to Washington for the inauguration but have sent their best wishes to President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris and look forward to a successful administration,” Deanna Congileo, a spokeswoman for the Carter Center, said in an email Tuesday night.

Traveling to Washington for the ceremony, one that has been significantly scaled back because of the coronavirus pandemic, would likely pose a considerable risk to the 96-year-old former president.

In 2019, Carter underwent surgery for a broken hip after a fall at his home and needed stitches above his brow later that year after another fall.

In 2015, Carter announced that he was cancer free after undergoing treatment for metastatic melanoma that had spread to his brain.

Four years ago, Carter, whom the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported has attended every inauguration since his own in 1977, went to Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.

It was still unclear whether Trump would attend Biden’s inauguration.