By Associated Press - Friday, January 20, 2017

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.

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