Biden assumes presidency, promises ‘a new day’ in US after Trump

Democrat Joe Biden became the 46th President of the United States and, proclaiming that “democracy has prevailed”, promised “a new day” for a country deeply divided and mired in a confluence of unprecedented crisis.

In an unprecedented event, shortly before Biden was sworn in, Kamala Harris was sworn in and became the first female vice president of the United States and the highest woman in American history.

Joe Biden is the new president of the United States and Kamala Harris is his vice president

The dedication ceremony on the steps of the Congress building, a hallowed tradition of American democracy, reflected the challenges faced by Biden, a 78-year-old political veteran, and Harris, 56.

First, the inauguration took place with a Capitol still shaken by an attack from Trump supporters two weeks ago to avoid validation of Biden’s electoral triumph, surrounded by security forces and deprived of the usual crowds by the coronavirus.

The security measures during the ceremony were exceptional.

Some 25,000 members of the National Guard and thousands of police officers from across the country have been deployed and the day did not have the crowds that traditionally fill the huge plaza of the National Mall to welcome the new president. Instead, this space was covered by over 190,000 flags planted to represent the absent audience.

Americans have been urged to stay at home to prevent the spread of a virus that has already killed 400,000 people in the United States, infected 24.5 million and put the world’s largest economy into recession after ten years of growth.

“The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been obeyed. Once again, we have learned that democracy is precious and fragile. At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed,” Biden said in his inauguration speech.

“Today is the day of democracy. It is a day for history and a day of hope, renewal and steadfastness,” he added.

Then he immediately alluded to the country’s emergencies, particularly the coronavirus.

“We have a lot to do in this dangerous winter … Few people in the history of our country … have had a more difficult or difficult time than the one we are experiencing now,” he said.

The former vice president and former Democratic senator arrives at the White House posing as a unifier of a divided, shaken and defeated country after four years of Trump’s Republican presidency.

Hours before the inauguration, Trump, one of the most controversial presidents in U.S. history, left the White House for the last time as president and retired to Florida, leaving behind him a legacy of chaos and a fractured nation.

“We’ll be back somehow,” the Republican said in a farewell address at Andrews Air Force Base, near Washington, at the foot of the presidential plane that then took him to Florida, where he isolated himself in his golf club at Mar-a-golf. Lake in Palm Beach.

Although Trump wished the future administration good luck for the second time in two days, he has once again avoided mentioning Biden by name, and so far not only has he never congratulated him, but, in an event unprecedented in 150 years, he missed his nomination. in Washington.

Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, on the other hand, were at the inauguration, which has been recorded in the history books, including by promoting, for the first time, a woman to the vice-presidency of the first Power.

Harris, 56, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, will also be the first black person to serve as vice president.

Trump, meanwhile, arrived at his club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida shortly before Biden’s solemn tenure. Hundreds of supporters lined the highway that led him to his residence, waving campaign flags and US flags, the AFP news agency reported.

At the end of a scandalous term, Trump left power at its lowest level of popularity, abandoned by many and threatened with impeachment for instigating the Jan.6 attack on Capitol Hill.

Biden, meanwhile, came to power surrounded by support that transcended his party, and after half a century in politics he sought from day one to mark contrast, both in form and substance. with its predecessor.

In an act of strong symbolism, Biden, the second Catholic president in the country’s history, attended a mass this morning at San Mateo Cathedral in Washington – where the funeral of the first Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, took place. took place – accompanied by Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, in a show of unity early in his term.

But it wasn’t just symbolism. Biden plans to sign a series of climate, immigration, foreign relations and pandemic management decrees in his early days, which mark a first major break with the previous government.