Donald Trump is set to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, but don’t expect Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to witness his return to power in person.
In an Instagram video posted on Sunday night, Ocasio-Cortez said: “All these journalists are like, ‘Congresswoman, are you going to the inauguration, Congresswoman, are you going to inauguration, are you going to the inauguration?’ Let me make myself clear: I don’t celebrate rapists, so no, I’m not going to the inauguration.” She captioned the post, “Guess I’m old school that way.”
Since the leak of the Access Hollywood tape more than eight years ago — in which Trump openly bragged about sexually assaulting women — at least 28 women have accused him of sexual misconduct, ranging from sexual harassment and forcible kissing to groping and rape. Additionally, in 2023 a Manhattan jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996. The president-elect has denied all allegations against him.
And it’s not only Trump who faces such allegations: Other men in his orbit who are expected to be at the inauguration have also been accused of sexual violence, including Elon Musk, Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, and Health secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. All of them have denied the accusations.