PB official who attended Trump inauguration in 2016 says it is time to look forward

Rep. Hardy Billington of Poplar Bluff, a Republican representing District 152, chose not to attend the inauguration of President Joe Biden Jr. This was the first presidential inauguration Billington has missed in years.

“I went to (Donald) Trump and (George W.) Bush’s inaugurations,” he said.

“We fought, we worked very hard for our candidate to win, but what’s great about this country is the peaceful transfer of power,” he said, adding, “No matter how much we differ, we believe in a peaceful transfer of power. I love my country.”

Attending former inaugurations “was so exciting,” said Bilington. “When I went for Trump, there were so many amazing people. We couldn’t get a cab. We had to walk about seven, eight miles. It was an amazing event. We definitely hope and pray for the best.”

Admitting “there is going be things that we didn’t agree with,” Billington said, “we want to think we all love our country, we just have different ideas on how it should be done.”

Listing Trump’s accomplishments, Billington said, he cut taxes. He helped Israel and promoted peace in the Middle East, which “is very important to me. I love Israel,” Billington said.

“I think he has done a lot for our country. He built the wall to protect the United States from drugs and people coming here illegally. He protected our Second Amendment. He fought for pro life. I really do believe he did all these things to make our country great again. He did an amazing job. He has built up the military. I think he was a great leader,” Billington continued.

Billington believes “violence is never acceptable. I feel very strongly we are a lot more united than in any other areas. You’ve got to look at the violence in D.C., but there has been violence throughout the whole USA, through all the different cities. This is terrible no matter what view you may have.

“I do not think it will hurt our party. I do believe the party I belong to will continue to help the people in Missouri and our nation. We love our country. So no, I do not think long term it will do harm to our party, but I am worried about not having the freedom to speak.”

He stressed, today is not the day to talk about those things. Today is the day for Biden to take power.

“We don’t need to look back; we look forward at what’s going to happen. So we always will give a new president the time to see what he will do,” he said.

Billington believes Missouri, and hopefully the nation, will be united, but “we have got to stand steady and to protect our liberty. We should never ever give up our beliefs for no reason whatsoever.”