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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.
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
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