Mike Pence won't attend US President Donald Trump's final send-off as President, it's been revealed, but will attend the inauguration of Joe Biden.
The outgoing US Vice-President has rebuffed an invitation to Trump's farewell ceremony at Joint Base Andrews in Washington DC on Wednesday morning (local time), according to multiple reports.
However he will be at the Capitol later that day to witness the swearing-in of successors Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Reports suggest logistical conflicts between the two events meant Pence was forced to choose between them.
It's understood Trump's send-off will also not be attended by Senator Mitch McConnell nor Representative Kevin McCarthy, the two most senior Republicans in Congress.
The ceremony is expected to be an intimate affair, according to Forbes, though not by choice.
Trump has reportedly tried to boost numbers at the event by sending invitations far and wide, including to Anthony Scaramucci and John Bolton, who have been critical of the President since they left their roles as White House officials.
The relationship between Trump and Pence has soured in recent weeks, with the departing President angered by his right-hand man's refusal to overturn the result of the 2020 US election, which Trump lost.
"Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify," he wrote on Twitter on January 6.
Pence was in charge of proceedings at the Senate when insurrectionists stormed the Capitol building, some threatening the Vice-President because he did not attempt to reverse election results.
