Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar to call to order Trump’s inauguration

Sen. Amy Klobuchar will take the stage Monday to call to order the inauguration of incoming President Donald Trump and incoming Vice President JD Vance.

The Minnesota Democrat chairs the bipartisan Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which is tasked with planning inauguration day. She had planned to speak at the event regardless of who won the election.

“This ceremony truly is the peaceful transition of power, and it is on me, even though I did not support the president-elect, to make sure that this ceremony is worthy of our country and worthy of our leadership in the world,” Klobuchar said in an interview ahead of the ceremony.

Klobuchar is the only Democrat who will speak during the ceremony.

“I am speaking in my role, not as a Democrat, but as the chair of the committee,” Klobuchar said. “I suppose I could have said no, but I think that would have been against all tradition. And these traditions are part of the peaceful transition of power.”

Klobuchar also spoke at the 2021 inauguration ceremony and introduced President Joe Biden, just two weeks after rioters descended on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, causing destruction as lawmakers were certifying his 2020 victory.

Her 2021 speech was celebratory and she talked about how the riots had “awakened us to our responsibilities as Americans.”

“This is the day when our democracy picks itself up, brushes off the dust and does what America always does — goes forward as a nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all,” she said in 2021.

But her speech this year may strike a different tone. She was still finalizing it when she spoke with the Minnesota Star Tribune, but said she will likely emphasize that the inauguration serves as a “peaceful transfer of power.”.

“We’re approaching 250 years of our democracy and our democracy has endured through times of adversity and prosperity and war and peace,” Klobuchar said on Sunday. “There are a lot of people that are going to be happy tomorrow, and a lot of people that are going to be anxious and worried about what’s to happen in the years to come. I have a job tomorrow and then I will continue my work of standing our ground when we must in finding common ground when we can.”

With extreme cold temperatures expected in the nation’s capital Monday, Trump decided to move most of the ceremony indoors, including the address, prayers and speeches. It will take place in the Capitol Rotunda, similar to President Ronald Reagan’s 1985 inauguration.

“The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows,” Trump said on Truth Social. “There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way.”

Minnesota’s four Republican members of Congress, who backed Trump for president, are attending the inauguration.

But not all Minnesota Democrats will. Initially on the fence, Sen. Tina Smith will now attend. Rep. Angie Craig and the delegation’s newest member, Rep. Kelly Morrison, will also attend.

Reps. Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum plan to stay in Minnesota to attend Monday events tied to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“The Presidential inauguration will take place on MLK Day, which is a day I’ve always spent at community gatherings,” McCollum said in a statement in December. “My time would be better spent with my constituents rather than traveling back and forth between Minnesota and Washington to attend the inauguration for just a few hours.”