Former White House press secretary under the Bush administration, Ari Fleischer, said former President Donald Trump was “right not to go” to President Biden’s inauguration.
“I think Donald Trump was right not to go today,” Fleischer said on Fox News ahead of the inauguration. “It would have been so fake of him to go, and one thing we all know about President Trump — he is not a politician. He doesn’t fake things. If he feels something, he lets it rip.”
“And if he had gone to this ceremony today for the symbolism of it all, it would have been such a fraudulent, phony, fraudulent thing after what he has done and said what he has said,” he continued. “This is who he is, his personality.”
Trump left the White House for the final time after 8 a.m. on Wednesday for his home in Florida, before Biden was sworn in just ahead of noon. Trump broke tradition by not attending the inauguration, with just a handful of other outgoing presidents doing the same, such as John Adams in 1801.
He also delivered remarks at Joint Base Andrews, thanking those who worked in his administration and his supporters while touting some of the accomplishments of his four years in office.
“Thank you very much, and we love you. And I can tell you that from the bottom of my heart,” Trump said. “This has been an incredible four years. We’ve accomplished so much together.”
“So, just a goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form,” he added.
Fleischer’s comments on Fox News come after he slammed Biden as “weak” for not taking a stance on Trump’s second impeachment.
“Biden’s refusal to take a stand on impeachment is a perfect example of how weak he is,” Fleischer tweeted on Jan. 10, before the House voted to impeach Trump. “He calls for ‘healing,’ but he is afraid to oppose his party’s left-wing. Buckle your seatbelts. Biden is a passive placeholder. Pelosi and the far left will increasingly take control.”
