Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:29 pm
The inauguration of Joe Biden is the culmination of a long and fraught process made more complicated by a predecessor who flouted established democratic norms.
“This is America’s day,†Biden said. “This is democracy’s day.â€
“Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we’re in now,†he said before acknowledging the toll of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed more than 400,000 American lives to date.
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“To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words and requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity,” he said.
Unity remained the resounding theme of Biden’s inaugural address.
“Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path,†he said. “Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.â€
Biden will work immediately to address the pandemic and the economic crisis that has compounded in its wake. He is set to issue 17 executive orders, including several to address the crisis, which include a federal mask mandate and a move to restructure federal government coordination to the pandemic.
“Before God and all of you, I give you my word: I will always level with you. I will defend the Constitution. I’ll defend our democracy. I’ll defend America,” he said.
More to come in the coming hours.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
