Politico reports Emanuel Cleaver was ‘disappointed’ in Trump’s inaugural address

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri was quoted Friday as saying he was “very, very disappointed” in President Donald Trump’s inaugural address, which Cleaver had hoped would include an apology for his divisive campaign.

Cleaver’s remarks were included in a Politico report on the post-inaugural lunch at the Capitol, attended by numerous members of Congress.

Trump was sworn in Friday in Washington as the 45th president of the United States. He gave a brief, 16-minute speech, in which he vowed to reverse the tide of what he called “American carnage” and said, “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first. America first.”

Cleaver, a Democrat and Congressional Black Caucus member, was later found “sulking” in his office, according to the report. Cleaver said he was disappointed because he thought Trump would apologize for some of the things he said during the election.

“I was hoping we’d hear soaring rhetoric about the things that we can all do together,” Cleaver told Politico. “I was also hoping he’d say, ‘Gee, I might have said a lot of things and hurt a lot of feelings, but I’m sorry.’ I would have stood up and started cheering and sent him a note of thanks. … I thought a sincere apology would go a long way to reducing the fear and hostility.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Politico reports Emanuel Cleaver was ‘disappointed’ in Trump’s inaugural address."