Nancy Pelosi makes her decision on whether she will attend Donald Trump's inauguration
Nancy Pelosi will not be attending Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday in a shock move from the senior Democrat.
The 84-year-old, who is recovering from a hip replacement operation, attended Trump's first swearing in eight years ago and was expected to be in the audience.
But the former House speaker joins Michelle Obama among the notable political figures who will not be at the Capitol as the 78-year-old year old takes the oath of office for the second time.
During her political career, she has attended 11 inaugurations
Pelosi's spokesperson first confirmed to ABC she would not be skipping the January 20 event, but did not give a reason why.
After suffering a fall in Europe over Christmas, Pelosi has been seen walking around the Capitol using a walker.
She has also been seen wearing flats, rather than her preferred heels which she was wearing when she took a tumble down a marble staircase in Luxembourg on December 13.
Pelosi has been a fervent critic of Trump. One of the memorable images from his first administration was when she ripped up his State of the Union speech in 2020.
Her resentment of him grew after the January 6 Capitol riot and when he mocked her husband Paul when he was the victim of a violent hammer attack.
Nancy Pelosi will not be attending Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday in a shock move from the senior Democrat
Pelosi was greeted by senators as she made her way through the House for the joint session of Congress
On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump repeatedly targeted Pelosi during his rallies by calling her an 'enemy within'.
At his closing event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he called her 'evil'.
'She's a crooked person. She's a bad person, evil. She's an evil, sick, crazy,' Trump said before appearing to mouth the word 'b*tch' 'Oh no. It starts with a B– but I won't say it. I want to say it. I want to say it,' he said.
In return, Pelosi referred to him as a 'domestic enemy' and also suggested Trump was partly to blame for the violent attack on her husband in their San Francisco.
She said the Republican Party 'targeted' and 'demonized' her
'What was sad about my husband's situation is he's not very political,' Pelosi said. 'They were after me. And I feel guilty about his paying the price.'
She campaigned hard to keep Trump out of the White House. In August, during a media tour for her book, she told reporters: 'My goal in life was that that man would never set foot in the White House again.'
But her efforts were unsuccessful even after she spearheaded efforts to get Biden to step down and back Kamala Harris.
That led to her relationship with the Bidens souring.
On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump repeatedly targeted Pelosi during his rallies by calling her an 'enemy within'
Jill Biden said this week that she's 'disappointed' with her friend of 50 years, Nancy Pelosi
Jill Biden said this week that she's 'disappointed' with her friend of 50 years, Nancy Pelosi, after she betrayed her husband Joe after his Georgia debate disaster in June.
Pelosi has been widely credited as a major player in Biden's July decision to drop out of the race just months before Election Day.
After Kamala Harris' loss to Donald Trump, she doubled down, saying that the president should've dropped out of the race sooner to allow for a more open primary to take his spot.
'I was asking for a campaign that would win. And I wasn't seeing that on the horizon,' she said in July, despite denying she had pushed Biden out.
First Lady Jill, in an exit interview released Wednesday, does not appear to have gotten over what Pelosi did to her husband.
'Let's just say I was disappointed with how it unfolded,' Biden said, adding that 'I learned a lot about human nature.'
Biden was asked about Pelosi after mentioning that she'd 'been thinking a lot about relationships.'
'It's been on my mind a lot lately, and... we were friends for 50 years. It was disappointing,' she said of the former Speaker of the House.
