Hatch serves as designated survivor at Trump's inauguration


3 photos
Save Story

Show 1 more video

Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch stayed away from Donald Trump's inauguration at the new president's request.

Hatch said in a statement Friday that he served as the designated survivor who would have taken over the presidency if a disaster had struck the event.

The 82-year-old Hatch is president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate and third in line for the presidency.

He said he would have liked to participate in the ceremony, but was honored to instead fill the successor role from an undisclosed location.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed during the swearing-in ceremony, immediately after Vice President Mike Pence took the oath of office but before Donald Trump was sworn in. Music director Mack Wilberg conducted as the choir sang his arrangement of “America the Beautiful” just before noon on the West Terrace of the Capitol.

“The lyrics were written by Katharine Bates in 1893, during a visit to Pike's Peak in Colorado,” Wilberg said, according to a news release. “It's one of our great songs because it talks about our great heritage and our continued potential as a great nation.”

Wilberg said the song is meant to unify. "Music plays an important role in presidential inaugurations because music, as we know, is the universal language," he said.

Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir wait for the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the Untied States during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir wait for the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the Untied States during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The United States Marine Band accompanied the choir. This was the seventh time the choir has performed at an inauguration.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson and Elder Gary E. Stevenson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Quorum of the Twelve Apostles also attended the inauguration.

Full video of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performance

Contributing: Tracie Snowder, Ladd Egan

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

U.S.UtahPolitics
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast