Underscoring the deep political divide, Mr. Trump will boycott the inauguration, breaking more than 150 years of tradition of an in-person handoff of U.S. executive power.
“The situation he faces is absolutely brutal,” said Cody Keenan, who served as a chief speechwriter for President Obama and assisted with his two inaugural addresses.
However, he said Mr. Biden may be ”the perfect president for the moment because he is not hyperbolic, he’s not a bomb-thrower, he’s surrounded himself with policy wonks who already have all these plans. I think what we are going to hear him talk about is ‘Here’s where we are, here’s what we have to get done.’ I think that’s going to go a long way just to make people feel better.”
The MLK National Day of Service will be followed by an hour-long event Monday evening filled with music and inspiring speakers, planned by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
After receiving a record 81 million votes, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Kamala D. Harris will make history for the Democratic Party and the nation, when they’re sworn in as President and Vice President, respectively, of the United States of America.
Biden, 78, will become the nation’s 46th Commander in Chief after serving as vice president in the Obama Administration and nearly four decades in the U.S. Senate. Harris, 56, the former Attorney General of California turned U.S. Senator, will shatter new barriers as the first woman and first Black and Southeast Asian American to serve as Vice President.
Inauguration Day 2021: Schedule of events to watch on Jan. 20
By Chris Williams article
Workers put up Biden-Harris branded bunting on a press riser along the inaugural parade route near the White House on January 14, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON - The inauguration celebration for president-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris is underway this week, with events, concerts and more from the Presidential Inauguration Committee on the schedule.
Several changes are in store this year as the country grapples with both the COVID-19 pandemic and heightened security after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. Thousands of National Guard troops are stationed around Washington, D.C. limiting the public’s exposure to the events, though some events were already planned to be virtual.