Donald Trump
President-elect Donald Trump speaking to the media at Trump Tower, New York City Brian R. Smith/AFP

The number of Democrat lawmakers who would boycott the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president has increased on Thursday (19 January). Many said they would not attend the event because of remarks that the president-elect made about civil rights icon and congressman John Lewis.

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Lewis said on Friday that he would not attend the inauguration in Washington DC on Friday (20 January), claiming Trump was not a "legitimate president" following allegations about the business magnate's Russia ties.

Trump lashed out on Twitter, criticising Lewis' record as Congressman, and claiming he was "All talk, talk, talk – no action or results".

Lewis was prominent member of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, which campaigned for racial equality.

He was beaten by police during the Selma-Montgomery voting-rights march of 1965 and attacked by the Klu Klux Klan.

Trump's disparagement of Lewis, who he claimed had allowed Georgia's fifth congressional district to become "crime-ridden", has prompted fellow members of Congress to break with protocol and join the boycott.

Congressman John Lewis
Congressman John Lewis said that he would boycott Trump's inauguration as he does not regard him as a legitimate potential president getty Images

Full list of the Democrat members of Congress who will not attend the Trump inauguration

Rep. Terri Sewell, Alabama
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Arizona
Rep. Ruben Gallego, Arizona
Rep. Jared Huffman, California
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, California
Rep. Barbara Lee, California
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, California
Rep. Ted Lieu, California
Rep. Maxine Waters, California
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, California
Rep. Karen Bass, California
Rep. Grace Napolitano, California
Rep. Raul Ruiz, California
Rep. Juan Vargas, California
Rep. Tony Cárdenas, California
Rep. Judy Chu, California
Rep. Jerry McNerney, California
Rep. Mark Takano, California
Rep. Darren Soto, Florida
Rep. Alcee Hastings, Florida
Rep. Fredreka Wilson, Florida
Rep. John Lewis, Georgia
Rep. John Yarmuth, Kentucky
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Illinois
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Illinois
Rep. Chellie Pingree, Maine
Rep. Anthony Brown, Maryland
Rep. Jamie Raskin, Maryland
Rep. Katherine Clark, Massachusetts
Rep. John Conyers, Michigan
Rep. Keith Ellison, Minnesota
Rep. William Lacy Clay, Missouri
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey
Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr., New Jersey
Rep. José Serrano, New York
Rep. Jerry Nadler, New York
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, New York
Rep. Nydia Velazquez, New York
Rep. Yvette Clarke, New York
Rep. Grace Meng, New York
Rep. Louise Slaughter, New York
Rep. G.K. Butterfield, North Carolina
Rep. Alma Adams, North Carolina
Rep. Marcia Fudge, Ohio
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Oregon
Rep. Kurt Schrader, Oregon
Rep. Peter DeFazio, Oregon
Rep. Dwight Evans, Pennsylvania
Rep. Mike Doyle, Pennsylvania
Rep. Brendan Boyle, Pennsylvania
Rep. Joaquin Castro, Texas
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Texas
Rep. Al Green, Texas
Rep. Don Beyer, Virginia
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Washington
Rep. Adam Smith, Washington
Rep. Steve Cohen, Tennessee
Rep. Mark Pocan, Wisconsin

California representative Ted Lieu said: "For me, the personal decision not to attend Inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis."

New York representative Yvette Clarke said on Twitter that she would not attend the inauguration. "When you insult [John Lewis], you insult America," she said.

On Martin Luther King Day 2017 (16 January), Trump praised King, the civil-rights leader who Lewis marched alongside, in an apparent attempt to defuse criticism. "Celebrate Martin Luther King Day and all of the many wonderful things that he stood for. Honour him for being the great man that he was!" tweeted the president-elect.

The lawmakers boycotting the event represent districts in states including New York, Georgia and California. Some said they would attend protest marches in Washington, DC instead of the inauguration.

Lewis announced in an NBC interview that he would not attend Trump's inauguration, claiming it was the first presidential inauguration since being elected to congress in 1987 he had decided to boycott.

"You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong," he said.

However it emerged that Trump's is not the first inauguration that Lewis has boycotted, and did not attend George W Bush's inauguration in 2001, prompting more criticism from Trump: "WRONG (or lie)!" he tweeted.

Donald Trump