Republican inaugural ceremonies chairman: I hope the president attends

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who serves as the inaugural ceremonies chairman, said Sunday that he hopes President Trump attends the event.

Blunt, who heads the bicameral panel tasked with planning the inauguration, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he hopes Trump attends the ceremony if President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in, which the senator said is “likely.”  

{mosads}“I hope the president is there on inaugural day, and [we’re] continuing to work to see what we can do to have the president there and have Vice President Biden there likely sworn in on that day,” Blunt said.

The Missouri Republican told CNN’s Dana Bash that he has not attempted to push the president to attend. Instead he said he has urged Trump’s staff to “look at the transition now, look at the opportunity in Georgia to help us win these Senate seats, look at what the president can do if the president is leaving the White House.”

“I think there’s a big role for President Trump, and I hope he embraces that and looks at how you move to whatever comes next for him, assuming that this election works out the way it appears it will,” he said. 

Blunt did not specifically recognize Biden as the president-elect but acknowledged that Senate Republicans are “certainly moving forward as if that’s what’s going to happen on” Inauguration Day. 

“The president-elect technically has to be elected president by the electors. That happens in the middle of December,” he said. 

“But we’re working with the Biden administration, the likely administration, on both the transition and the inauguration as if we’re moving forward,” he added. 

Bash pushed Blunt, citing that he said “likely administration” and asking, “Is it safe to say you do consider Joe Biden the president-elect?”

“Well, the president-elect will be the president-elect when the electors vote for him,” he responded. 

.@DanaBashCNN presses GOP Sen. Roy Blunt on whether he considered Joe Biden president-elect.

“We are certainly moving forward as if that’s what’s going to happen on Jan. 20,” Blunt says. “The president-elect will be the president-elect when the electors vote for him” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/kmBG3dLGan

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) November 29, 2020