Joe Biden inaugurated as 46th president when Donald Trump leaves Washington

There are now more than 25,000 troops of the National Guard in place to ensure that the transfer of power from the country can take place peacefully. Trump will become the first president in more than 150 years to refuse to attend his successor’s swearing-in ceremony.

Instead, he and First Lady Melania Trump plan to fly to Florida before Biden takes his oath of office, with the tradition of greeting the incoming president and first lady in the White House and driving with them to the Capitol. CNN’s Kate Bennett has reported that White House Chief Timothy Harleth will meet the Bidens in the White House.

After decades in politics, Biden will deliver the most important speech of his life on Wednesday at a time when the country is gripped by a seemingly uncontrollable pandemic, an economic collapse that has left millions unemployed and deeply divided over issues of racial justice and police brutality. . Biden is expected to reflect on the theme at the root of his presidential campaign – restoring the “soul of the nation” – as he explains how he hopes to unite the country.

His task was hampered by the fact that Trump still did not concede the election, hindered the transition between administrations and was engulfed in his last days by planning his own departure ceremony and weighing who to forgive. But Trump is leaving the White House as a disgrace and diminished figure. CNN’s White House team reported that although dozens of current and former officials were invited to the farewell ceremony on Wednesday morning, many did not want to attend.

Vice President Mike Pence plans to attend Biden’s inauguration, but the vice president’s public calendar does not indicate that he will attend the president’s event at Joint Base Andrews.

Biden and the elected vice president Kamala Harris – who will make history on Wednesday when she is sworn in as the first woman, the first black and first South Asian vice president – will attend a service in the cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in DC before the inauguration ceremonies with Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in a tone of unity and Biden’s intention to work with leaders of both parties.

Honor the victims of Covid-19

Biden largely ignored Trump’s final fight against the democratic process in the last hours before the inauguration, as he shows which other president he will be.

Moments before 400 columns of light were lit on the sides of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to honor the lost lives, Biden invited Americans to mourn as he mourned alongside them – a moment that was extraordinary because there was nothing like it during the Trump was not administration. The former vice president is long defined by his innate ability to comfort strangers he met during his journey in politics, due to his experience of working tragedies in his own life – from the loss of his first wife and baby daughter in a 1972 car accident to the death of his 46-year-old son Beau Biden in 2015.

He summed up the lessons of these personal experiences in his tribute to Covid-19 victims on the eve of the oath of office: ‘It’s hard to remember sometimes, but this is how we heal,’ he added at the memorial said. “It’s important to do that as a nation.”

Biden on Wednesday focused on his plans to unite the country, market a compromise with political opponents, and turn the Trump administration’s over-politicized response to the pandemic into a functional operation that could accelerate the delivery of vaccines to Americans. and could abandon the US economy. .

He wants to show that he will move quickly to undo the damage that Trump has done, with assistants ready with a dozen executive actions that Biden can take once he is sworn in, including re-joining the climate agreement of Paris and the end of Trump’s ban on travel from predominantly Muslim countries. The president chooses to extend the moratorium on evictions and negatives for families affected by Covid-19 and to sign an order requiring masks on federal property and during interstate travel.

Inauguration day looks different this year

Plans for the inauguration itself were reformed not only by the pandemic, but also by the incredible security breach at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. There will be no crowds in the streets or on the National Mall as the city is in the lock.

Biden plans to lay a wreath at the grave of the unknown soldier, along with former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, along with their spouses.

But in an empty and heavily guarded city, the rest of the traditional inaugural festival will be aimed at an audience that will live at home.

The parade is hosted by “Scandal” actor Tony Goldwyn and will feature comedian Jon Stewart, New Radicals and DJ Cassidy’s “Pass the Mic” featuring performances by Earth Wind & Fire, Nile Rodgers, Kathy Sledge, The Trans Chorus or Los Angeles, The Washington Chorus and The Triumph Baptist Church Choir.

Several Americans who tried to raise their neighbors in the midst of the pandemic’s mood will also participate, including Dr. Jason Campbell – a doctor in Portland, Oregon, who became known as the “TikToc Doc” with his uplifting dance performances in scrubs. out of the hospital – and Jason Zgonc, a 12-year-old trumpeter from Atlanta who played hospital workers during breaks during the summer.