Biden: Trump attending inauguration is 'of consequence' to the country

President-elect Joe BidenJoe Biden Intercept bureau chief: minimum wage was not 'high priority' for Biden in COVID-19 relief South Carolina Senate adds firing squad as alternative execution method Obama alum Seth Harris to serve as Biden labor adviser: report MORE said on Thursday that it is not important to him personally if President TrumpDonald Trump South Carolina Senate adds firing squad as alternative execution method Ex-Trump aide Pierson won't run for Dallas-area House seat House Oversight panel reissues subpoena for Trump's accounting firm MORE attends his inauguration next month, but added that it would be important for the country to bear witness to a peaceful transfer of power.

"Important in only one sense," Biden told CNN's Jake TapperJacob (Jake) Paul Tapper Ex-Trump press secretary criticized for stirring up QAnon on Twitter Maryland GOP governor says he would have voted to convict Trump Democratic senator defends decision not to call witnesses: 'They weren't going to get more Republican votes' MORE when asked if he thought it was important for Trump to attend his inauguration. "Not in a personal sense, important in a sense that we are able to demonstrate at the end of this chaos that he's created that there is a peaceful transfer of power with the competing parties standing there, shaking hands and moving on."

"It is totally his decision and it’s of no personal consequence to me," he added, "but I do think it is for the country."

Trump has not yet said whether he will attend Biden's inauguration. The president still has not formally conceded the election to Biden and continues to claim, without evidence, that the election was fraught with widespread voter fraud.

The Daily Beast reported this week that Trump has floated to advisers the possibility of launching a 2024 presidential campaign during Biden’s inauguration week.

Sen. Lindsey Graham