To celebrate inaugural or not? Trump critics are divided
The sharp divisions over Donald Trump's election have politicians, celebrities and even high school students debating, two months after the election, whether taking part in the inauguration is a political act that demonstrates support for the new president and his agenda, or a nonpartisan tribute to democratic traditions and the peaceful transfer of power.
Among critics of the president-elect, everyone from Hillary Clinton and Hollywood A-listers to the band director at tiny Madawaska Middle/High School in northern Maine and singers in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is wrestling with this issue — and reaching different conclusions.
A fellow choir member, Cristi Brazao, who also didn't support Trump, posted on her Facebook page that she'll be singing at the inauguration because "my mission as a singer has always been to soften hearts, to bridge gaps, to make connections and also to make friends."
Similar debates have played out among the dancers of the Radio City Rockettes and members of the marching band of historically black Talladega College in Alabama after inaugural planners announced that the groups would be performing.
For Ben Meiklejohn, director of the 30-student Pride of Madawaska Marching Band, performing for an inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial will give his teenage musicians the experience of a lifetime and has nothing to do with politics.
On Wednesday, he tweeted that album sales for classical teenage singer Jackie Evancho, who has also performed at events with President Barack Obama, had "skykrocketed" after her Dec. 14 announcement that she'll sing the national anthem at the swearing-in.
Before the 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush., plenty of people harbored bitter feelings about the recount and Supreme Court ruling that left Republican Bush ahead of Democratic Vice President Al Gore.