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State Department spokesperson: John Kerry to miss Trump inauguration

Jan 18, 2017, 23:08 IST

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivers remarks on Middle East peace at the Department of State in Washington December 28, 2016.Reuters/James Lawler Duggan

Outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry will not be attending president-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, a state department spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday.

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The spokesperson would not elaborate on why Kerry, who was in Davos for the World Economic Forum this week, won't be attending the inauguration.

Kerry's announcement came after more than 50 Democratic lawmakers said they will be following Representative John Lewis' lead and boycotting the inauguration.

Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, told MSNBC last week that he did not consider Trump to be a "legitimate president" because he thought Russian hacking had helped get him elected in November. Lewis also skipped George W. Bush's first inauguration in 2000.

Kerry joked during a discussion at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that Trump may not serve out his full term in office, and explained why he thought a Trump administration could not unilaterally pull out of the multinational nuclear deal with Iran.

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"[Pulling out of the deal] will hurt for the endurance of a year, two years, whatever - while the administration is still there," Kerry said, drawing laughter from the crowd in Davos.

A senior State Department official told Fox News that "it is not uncommon at all for the outgoing cabinet officials not to attend. As you know, as of noon, they will no longer be in office."

NOW WATCH: Here are all the musicians who declined to perform at Trump's inauguration so far

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