It was an inauguration as before, sandwiched between massive security and a pandemic that killed more than 400,000 Americans.
Instead of crowds, a sea of American and state flags filled the National Mall in Washington.
Armed National Guards replace the cheering supporters along Pennsylvania Avenue, the traditional parade route from the Capitol to the White House.
Instead of 200,000 guests, a meager 1,000 – sitting in two folding chairs placed at least 6 feet apart – personally watched President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris swear to uphold the Constitution.
In a move not seen in 152 years, former President Donald Trump was absent from the ceremony marking the peaceful handover of power. But in his inaugural address, with outgoing Vice President Mike Pence and the Republican congressional leaders attending, Biden called for a new beginning and an end to this ‘civil war’.
“Politics does not have to be a raging fire that destroys everything in its path,” Biden said. ‘Every disagreement does not have to be a cause of total war. We must reject the culture in which facts are themselves manipulated and produced. ”
Harris was sworn in a few minutes before Biden and became the first black vice president, as well as the first Asian American and woman to serve as president or vice president.
Exactly two weeks after the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters, and one week after the House accused Trump for the second time, Biden focused on the need to suppress the coronavirus, eradicate systemic racism, and address climate change and confront domestic terrorism.
With the distinctive theme of his campaign, Biden spoke repeatedly about unity.
“Without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and anger,” Biden said. ‘No progress, just exhausting indignation. No nation, just a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge. Unity is the way forward. ”
Biden’s constructive tone and themes of unity contrasted sharply with the most memorable lines of Trump’s inaugural address in 2017. On that rainy January morning, Trump referred to ‘rusty factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our country’ and said that ‘this American massacre stops and stops here.’
During his speech, Biden said, “There is truth and there are lies, telling lies for power and profit.”
As is often the case with inaugural speeches, Biden focused on broad themes. But we found some factual allegations that we could check. Biden’s address clings to allegations that were virtually defensible.
A once-in-a-century virus that is quietly creeping up on the country. It took as many lives in one year as America lost in World War II. ”
This is almost accurate.
While Biden was speaking, the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker reported 402,269 deaths in the United States. According to the Congressional Research Service, it is only ashamed of the 405,399 American deaths during World War II. With the seven-day moving average deaths from coronavirus reaching 3,015 on inauguration day, the total of four years would be equal to World War II by coronavirus on January 20 or 21, less than a year after the virus reached the United States the State.
Reaching this milestone is the only war that has killed more Americans than the coronavirus pandemic, the Civil War, which is estimated to have claimed between 618,000 and 750,000 lives on both sides. Currently, the Institute for Health Measurements and Evaluation at the University of Washington is projecting 566,720 COVID-19 deaths by May 1, even with the distribution of vaccines.
‘Millions of jobs have been lost. Hundreds of thousands of businesses have closed. ”
Biden was correct about jobs lost during the pandemic: between February and December 2020, the number of non-farmers nationwide dropped by more than 9.8 million.
As for businesses, although it is undeniable that a large number have been closed forever, the specific numbers are unclear.
One measure, according to Yelp Local Economic Impact Report, counts nearly 100,000 permanent, cumulative closures in its September report, plus another 66,000 temporary closures. The actual number may be higher as not all businesses are captured by the Yelp methodology. And these numbers are now a few months old.
“Thousands of protesters tried to stop brave women campaigning for the right to vote 108 years ago.”
Biden made the point to contrast with Harris’ historic oath. “Do not tell me things can not change,” Biden said.
He accurately described a collision in 1913 on the eve of Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration (though not on the day of the inauguration). According to the Library of Congress, suffragists have mobilized 5,000 women who have been abused in the streets of Washington by rioting crowds and police.
” Women have been shocked, stumbled, grabbed, pushed, and many have heard ‘immoral captions’ and’ conversation about the site, ” according to current reports quoted by the Library of Congress. “Instead of protecting the parade, the police ‘seemed to’ enjoy all the jokes and laughter and take part in it ‘. One policeman explained that they should stay at home where they belong. ”
“Now, a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.”
This is another contrast that Biden draws with Trump. Trump denied that he had any sympathy for white supremacists, but his comments at critical moments could not silence the criticism he made. When a march by neo-Nazi groups and other white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., Became violent, Trump said “you also have people who were very nice people on both sides.”
Trump dismissed all violent protesters, but during the presidential debates, Trump asked if he condemned white supremacists and militia groups like the Proud Boys, saying, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”
Biden’s reference to the rise of such groups traces back to the threats that Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, described during a hearing in the House Committee in September 2020.
“Violent extremists with racial motives have been responsible for the deadliest activity in the U.S. in recent years,” Wray told lawmakers. “The local terrorism, deadly attacks we have had, this year, in my opinion, fit everyone into the category of anti-government, anti-authority, which covers everything from anarchist violent extremists to militias. We do not really think in terms of left, right. ”
Wray dug up and explained that among the racially motivated extremists people who endorse a kind of white supremacist ideology are surely the biggest part of it. ‘
When Biden quoted Wray’s data during the campaign, we judged it to be true.
“We will restore our alliances and enter into dialogue with the world again.”
Biden has made it clear that he intends to reverse Trump’s policies with the international community. With his America First agenda, Trump has caused tensions between the United States and several of the top multilateral organizations.
He withdrew the country from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement. With the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Trump’s specific complaints about their defense spending would have been off target, but he complained about them not spending more, and could be satisfied that their spending had risen. On our promise trail, we judged it as a promise kept by Trump.
But Trump’s attitude toward NATO has cost a price. In NATO, Britain, France and Germany carry the greatest leverage among European members. French President Emmanuel Macron has told his European partners to start charting their own course. Macron has questioned whether the US is ‘turning its back on Europe’.
In turn, one of Biden’s first steps as president was to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. He said the US would revoke Trump’s order removing the US from the World Health Organization, and he promised NATO America’s ‘lasting commitment’.