US says goodbye to the Trump era | Biden at …

From Washington, DC

After four years, Donald Trump says goodbye to the White House. His term will end at 12 p.m. in Washington (2 p.m. in Argentina), when Democrat Joseph Biden swears to defend the Constitution of the United States. and become the country’s 46th president. It will be a strange ceremony. The health security measures resulting from the covid-19 pandemic will be added to the operation implemented after the siege of the Capitol at the beginning of the month. The outgoing president will not be present and will break a tradition held over the past 150 years.

One of the morning customs on inauguration day is the arrival of the President-elect and his wife at the White House prior to the ceremony, to be received by the outgoing President and the First Lady then head to the Capitol for the guess. It will not happen this Wednesday.

Trump’s plan is to leave the capital early in the morning and head to Andrews Air Force Base, located in the state of Maryland about 20 kilometers from Washington. He wants to organize a farewell event there before leaving for Florida. For this, he invited, among others, his vice-president Mike Pence and the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell. The two declined the invitation. The former said he was going to attend Biden’s dedication ceremony and that getting to the airbase was a logistical challenge. Saying goodbye via Twitter, Pence posted four images from his tenure as vice president. None with the president.

Goodbye Trump

On your last full day as President, Trump posted a farewell video via White House accounts. In 20 minutes, he reviewed what he considers the accomplishments of his administration: the pre-pandemic economy, tax cuts, the new trade deal with Canada and Mexico, immigration policy and China, among others. He stressed that he had not started any war. “We are embarking on a mission to make America great again for all Americans. As I complete my term as 45th President, I stand before you truly proud of what we have accomplished together. We did what we came to do and much more, ”he said.

Although he has assured that he is praying that the new administration “is lucky,” Trump at no point mentioned Biden. of his farewell speech. The mogul thanked his family, Pence and the rest of his government. “All Americans were horrified by the assault on our Capitol. Political violence is an attack on everything we hold dear as Americans. It can never be tolerated, ”he said. Earlier, McConnell told the Senate that the mob besieging Congress “was provoked by the President.”

In a fragment that sounded like a reference to his suspension on Twitter and other social networks, Trump highlighted the American “heritage”, at the center of which he placed “the firm belief in freedom of speech, freedom of speech and open debate”. “America is not a shy nation of weak souls who must be protected from those with whom we disagree,” he added.

“I want you to know that the movement we have started is just beginning,” Trump said as he prepared to hand power over to a new administration on Wednesday. “The best is yet to come,” he said goodbye.

Biden, excited

Biden left the state of Delaware, where he lived until Tuesday, in the early hours of the afternoon. He said goodbye in a ceremony at the State National Guard headquarters, a site named after his son Beau, who died in 2015. “It’s deeply personal that our next trip to Washington begins here, in a place that defines the best of who we are as Americans,” he said enthusiastically.

Then he went with his wife Jill to the District of Columbia, where the ceremony activities began in the evening. There, the Bidens, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, paid tribute to the victims of the pandemic outside the Lincoln Memorial.

The tribute included a prayer by Archbishop of Washington Wilton Gregory, the first African American to hold the post. It also featured a nurse who rose to prominence in April of last year for a video in which she performed the song Amazing Grace. Lori Key, who works at a hospital outside of Detroit, performed this song again before Biden spoke.

“To heal, we have to remember. It is sometimes difficult to remember. But that’s how we heal. It is important to do this as a nation. That’s what we’re here for today, ”the president-elect said before 400 lights were turned on around the pond in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Each symbolizes a thousand coronavirus deaths that the country already has.

This Wednesday, the dedication ceremony will begin around noon in Washington. The main act will be attended by Lady Gaga, who will sing the anthem, and Jennifer López, with a musical performance. Attendance will be limited: Members of Congress with few guests and the families of Biden and Harris will be in attendance.

There will be no parade on Pennsylvania Avenue one of the traditions of the investiture day. Following his swearing-in, Biden will travel to the White House accompanied by representatives from each branch of the military.

From his first day, the new president will not have the main figures of his cabinet. Auditions to confirm their candidates for the head of the various departments began on Tuesday and can last all week. In the midst of the investiture preparations, the The Democrat has announced that his candidate for the post of Assistant Secretary of Health will be Rachel Levine. If confirmed, she will be the first trans secretary in the country’s history.

Biden also pointed out the creation of the Gender Policy Council. “Too many women struggle to make ends meet and provide for their families, and too many women spend the night worrying about the financial future of their children. This was true before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the current global public health crisis has made that burden immeasurably heavier on women across this country, ”he said.