But few people expect Mr. Trump’s presence to remain low-key for long.
Several of Mr. Trump’s children and associates are also decamping to South Florida. Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, have reportedly acquired a property on the exclusive island of Indian Creek, north of Miami, and rented an apartment in nearby Surfside. Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, have been spotted house-hunting in Jupiter, where The Palm Beach Post reported that some neighbors were already objecting to the couple’s possible presence.
The town has also been abuzz about which (presumably) private school will enroll Barron Trump, and whether it will be near Mar-a-Lago or further south in Boca Raton or Fort Lauderdale, a move that would require the 14-year-old to while away many hours in South Florida’s notoriously dense traffic.
Michael Barnett, the chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party, said he had fielded calls in recent days from reporters from as far away as Germany and Japan asking about Mr. Trump’s post-presidency plans and the local G.O.P.’s political future.
“I’m sure he’s going to want to take some time to relax and rest,” Mr. Barnett said. “It’s been a long and tough four years, and he’s getting beaten up a lot. But all of us are sad to see the end of his presidency — or, some would say, his first term.”
As President Biden proclaimed during his inauguration speech in Washington that “democracy has prevailed,” a gaggle of Trump supporters near Mar-a-Lago cheered as a dark pickup truck passed waving a massive flag that read “TRUMP 2024.”
“The good news: He’s no longer at the White House,” said Terrie Rizzo, the chairwoman of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party. “The bad news is he’s going to be in our backyard.”
Ms. Rizzo noted that some local Republicans have left the party since the insurrection at the Capitol — 1,488, according to the Palm Beach County elections supervisor’s office. “I won’t have to do a lot of rallying because having him here will be a rallying cry for Democrats,” Ms. Rizzo said.
Katy Perry performs during the Celebrating America event on Wednesday, following the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.
Biden Inaugural Committee/AP
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Biden Inaugural Committee/AP
Katy Perry performs during the Celebrating America event on Wednesday, following the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.
Biden Inaugural Committee/AP
A maskless President Biden addressed the nation Wednesday night standing at the feet of Abraham Lincoln Memorial during a televised and star-studded celebration of the historic inauguration.
“We’re good people,” he reassured viewers, before picking up the theme of his earlier speech on the steps of the Capitol.
“Unity forces us to come together in common love that defines us as Americans,” Biden said.
President Joe Biden addresses the nation during Celebrating America
YouTube
The 46th president urged the public to come together, saying it’s “the only way we’ll get through the darkness around us.”
He noted that the obstacles facing the nation, including the pandemic currently ravaging communities across the country, racial injustices, the climate crisis are“threats to our very democracy.”
“Will we meet the moment like our forbearers have?” Biden asked.
“I believe we must and I believe we will,” he said. “You, the American people are the reason why I have never been more optimistic about America than I am this very day.”
He added: “America is built of decency and dignity of love and healing of greatness and goodness. Of possibility.”
The inaugural program, called Celebrating America, featured several tributes to the extraordinary efforts by nurses, doctors, teachers and other frontline workers who have stepped up throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
In her first remarks to the nation as vice president, Harris echoed the president’s call to unite in the days ahead.
“In many ways this moment embodies our character as nation,” she said in a brief address to the audience.
“Even in dark times, we not only dream, we do. We shoot for the moon and then we plant our flag on it,” Harris said. “We are bold, we are fearless and ambitious. We are undaunted in our believe that we shall overcome that we will rise up.”
She added: “A great experiment takes great determination. The will to do the work and then the wisdom to keep refining, keep tinkering, keep perfecting.”
Although much of the program hit several somber notes, the two-hour show was interspersed with several performances by a variety of singers, musicians, artists, and actors. Among them John Legend sang Nina Simone’s Feeling Good.
Justin Timberlake & Ant Clemons performing at Celebrating America
YouTube
Puerto Rican singers Ozuna and Luis Fonsi sang their respective mega-hits, Taki Taki and Despacito, in Spanish. And Katy Perry’sFirework, served as the soundtrack to a stunning firework show over the White House and the National Mall that capped off the celebration.
Former Trump 2016 campaign adviser Stephen Moore reacts to presumed President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet picks.
President Joe Biden’s administration took immediate action to address the U.S. energy imprint on Wednesday, and indicated a focus on domestic policies in its fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
During her first briefing as White House press secretary on Wednesday, Jen Psaki said it was important for U.S. leaders and citizens to be “models her at home” in the fight against the climate crisis.
“The United States continues to be one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases and we need to put in place policies and take steps here to address that,” Psaki said.
According to recently updated data from nonprofit group the Union of Concerned Scientists, China is responsible for 28% of the globe’s carbon dioxide emissions.
The United States is responsible for 15%, while India produces 7% and Russia 5%.
Data from the Environmental Protection Agency from 2014 showed similar trends, with China at 30%, the U.S. at 15%, the European Union at 9% and India at 7%.
When it comes to forward-looking projections, however, emissions from the U.S. are expected to remain relatively flat, while those from China and India continue to rise.
Biden has made no secret of the fact that he would focus on combating what he calls the climate crisis during his four years in the Oval Office – which includes reversing some of former President Donald Trump’s actions.
Biden’s administration announced its intent to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization on Wednesday, both of which President Donald Trump had withdrawn from during his tenure.
Biden also revoked a key cross-border permit, effectively halting construction on the roughly 1,200 mile-long Keystone XL pipeline project, which had been rejected by President Barack Obama in 2015.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, declaring that “democracy has prevailed” as he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors.
Biden’s inauguration came at a time of national tumult and uncertainty, a ceremony of resilience as the hallowed American democratic rite unfurled at a U.S. Capitol battered by an insurrectionist siege just two weeks ago. The chilly Washington morning was dotted with snow flurries, but the sun emerged just before Biden took the oath of office, the quadrennial ceremony persevering even though it was encircled by security forces evocative of a war zone and devoid of crowds because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The will of the people has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded. We’ve learned again that democracy is precious and democracy is fragile. At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed,” Biden said. “This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day. A day in history and hope, of renewal and resolve.”
And then he pivoted to challenges ahead, acknowledging the surging virus that has claimed more than 400,000 lives in the United States. Biden looked out over a capital city dotted with empty storefronts that attest to the pandemic’s deep economic toll and where summer protests laid bare the nation’s renewed reckoning on racial injustice.
“We have much to do in this winter of peril, and significant possibilities: much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build and much to gain,” Biden said. “Few people in our nation’s history have more challenged, or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we’re in now.”
His predecessor’s absence underscored the healing that is needed.
Flouting tradition, Donald Trump departed Washington on Wednesday morning ahead of the inauguration rather than accompany his successor to the Capitol. Though three other former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — gathered to watch the ceremonial transfer of power, Trump, awaiting his second impeachment trial, instead flew to Florida after stoking grievance among his supporters with the lie that Biden’s win was illegitimate.
Biden, in his third run for the presidency, staked his candidacy less on any distinctive political ideology than on galvanizing a broad coalition of voters around the notion that Trump posed an existential threat to American democracy. Biden did not mention Trump by name in the early moments of his inaugural address but alluded to the rifts his predecessor had helped create.
“I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh, ugly reality of racism, nativism, fear, demonization that have long torn us apart,” Biden said. “This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward and we must meet this moment as the United States of America.”
Biden came to office with a well of empathy and resolve born by personal tragedy as well as a depth of experience forged from more than four decades in Washington. At age 78, he was the oldest president inaugurated.
More history was made at his side, as Kamala Harris became the first woman to be vice president. The former U.S. senator from California is also the first Black person and the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency and will become the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in government.
The two were sworn in during an inauguration ceremony with few parallels in history.
Tens of thousands of troops are on the streets to provide security precisely two weeks after a violent mob of Trump supporters, incited by the Republican president, stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory.
“Here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people,” Biden said. “To stop the work of our democracy. To drive us from this sacred ground. It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow. Not ever. Not ever.”
The tense atmosphere evoked the 1861 inauguration of Lincoln, who was secretly transported to Washington to avoid assassins on the eve of the Civil War, or Roosevelt’s inaugural in 1945, when he opted for a small, secure ceremony at the White House in the waning months of World War II.
The day began with a reach across the aisle after four years of bitter partisan battles under Trump. At Biden’s invitation, congressional leaders from both parties bowed their heads in prayer in the socially distanced service just a few blocks from the White House.
Biden was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts; Harris was sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina member of the Supreme Court. Vice President Mike Pence, standing in for Trump, sat nearby as Lady Gaga, holding a gold microphone, sang the National Anthem accompanied by the U.S. Marine Corps band.
Biden oversaw a “Pass in Review,” a military tradition that honors the peaceful transfer of power to a new commander in chief. Later, Biden, Harris and their spouses were to be joined by that trio of former presidents to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Ceremony.
Still later, Biden was to join the end of a slimmed-down inaugural parade as he moves into the White House. Because of the pandemic, much of this year’s parade was to be a virtual affair featuring performances from around the nation.
In the evening, in lieu of the traditional glitzy balls that welcome a new president to Washington, Biden will take part in a televised concert that also marks the return of A-list celebrities to the White House orbit after they largely eschewed Trump. Among those in the lineup: Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“I protested 45’s inauguration, and I wanted to be here when he left,” said Raelyn Maxwell of Park City, Utah. ”And I wanted to celebrate the new president.” She brought a bouquet of roses she hoped to toss to Harris and some champagne to toast the occasion.
Trump is the first president in more than a century to skip the inauguration of his successor. In a cold wind, Marine One took off from the White House and soared above a deserted capital city to his own farewell celebration at nearby Joint Base Andrews. There, he boarded Air Force One for the final time as president for the flight to his Florida estate.
“I will always fight for you. I will be watching. I will be listening and I will tell you that the future of this country has never been better,” said Trump, who wished the incoming administration well but once again declined to mention Biden’s name.
The symbolism was striking: The very moment Trump disappeared into the doorway of Air Force One, Biden stepped out of the Blair House, the traditional guest lodging for presidents-in-waiting, and into his motorcade for the short ride to church.
Trump did adhere to one tradition and left a note for Biden in the Oval Office, according to the White House, which did not release its contents. And Trump, in his farewell remarks, hinted at a political return, saying “we will be back in some form.”
And he, without question, will shadow Biden’s first days in office.
Trump’s second impeachment trial could start as early as this week. That could test the ability of the Senate, poised to come under Democratic control, to balance impeachment proceedings with confirmation hearings and votes on Biden’s Cabinet choices.
Biden was eager to go big early, with an ambitious first 100 days that includes a push to speed up the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations to anxious Americans and pass a $1.9 trillion virus relief package. On Day One, he’ll also send an immigration proposal to Capitol Hill that would create an eight-year path to citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally.
He also planned a 10-day blitz of executive orders on matters that don’t require congressional approval — a mix of substantive and symbolic steps to unwind the Trump years. Among the planned steps: rescinding travel restrictions on people from several predominantly Muslim countries; rejoining the Paris climate accord; issuing a mask mandate for those on federal property; and ordering agencies to figure out how to reunite children separated from their families after crossing the border.
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Critical Vogue readers and magazine collectors can finally rejoice about Kamala Harris’ February 2021 issue.
The revered fashion publication announced Tuesday evening that it will be printing a limited quantity of its digital cover as a special Inauguration Day edition.
“In celebration of this historic moment, we will be publishing a limited number of special edition #InaugurationDay issues,” Vogue Magazine wrote in posts shared to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The digital cover shows America’s first Black-South Asian woman Vice President-elect wearing a powder blue suit from the Michael Kors Collection suit. Harris smiles brightly with her arms crossed while donning an American flag pin.
Several social media users, journalists and culture writers have dubbed this cover as the “presidential” version, while the regular print issue where Harris is wearing a more casual Donald Deal jacket and Converse sneakers has received staunch criticism since its unveil on Jan. 10.
“Is it racism or simply misogyny that made you break your promise and use the worse photo of strikingly beautiful @KamalaHarris? We all see you,” one Twitter user wrote under Vogue Magazine’s initial announcement tweet.
Thousands of other social media users took to their keyboards to express disappointment about the backdrops used in Harris’ photo shoots, which some described as not glam enough despite the hanging tapestries being inspired by her Howard University sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, according to Vogue.
Others criticized past Vogue covers featuring Black women they felt missed the mark as well as the choices of Anna Wintour, Vogue’s esteemed former editor in chief who has moved up to chief content officer.
Vogue’s casual print edition was further condemned when readers found out Harris’ team did not expect the publication to run with photo it selected.
According to the Associated Press, an insider close to Harris told Vogue that the Vice President-elect’s team was not thrilled about the magazine’s direction.
The publication defended its decision in a statement that said the casual cover captured the “authentic, approachable nature, which we feel is one of the hallmarks of the Biden-Harris administration.”
Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor while her husband Doug Emhoff held the Bible. The 59th Presidential Inauguration took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2021. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
Representatives at Vogue and the magazine’s parent company Condé Nast did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment. It is also unclear how many special edition copies will be printed.
However, a message shared in Vogue’s special edition product page reads: “In recognition of the enormous interest in the digital cover, and in celebration of this historic moment, we will be publishing a limited number of special edition inaugural issues.”
Both covers were photographed by Tyler Mitchell, the Black photographer who was hand-picked by Beyoncé for her September 2018 issue. He made history as the first African American to shoot a Vogue cover.
Harris was sworn in as vice president Wednesday morning.
“Ms. Gorman, I need you as our Poet-in-Residence at the National Treasure, @MorganStateU,” Wilson tweeted shortly after Gorman’s acclaimed performance of her original poem, “The Hill We Climb.”
The annals of presidential pardons have always been fraught with politics, among them Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton’s absolution of Marc Rich. But the long list of Trump’s pardons and commutations — more than 100 in his final 24 hours as president — took the politics surrounding the process to unheard-of levels.
Between the pardons granted earlier in his term and those dispensed on Tuesday night, Trump’s record of clemency will serve for historians as a Who’s Who of Trump’s orbit, beginning with his first impeachment. And it will etch into Trump’s legacy the use of one of the commander-in-chief’s most preeminent powers as a province of the politically subservient, the well-connected and the rich.
“The granting of even more sleazy crony pardons as the clock ran out on his one term,” said Benjamin Ginsberg, a nationally recognized elections lawyer who has represented past Republican presidential nominees, “will define the nature of his presidency.”
Even before Tuesday, Trump proved a loyal benefactor to political allies such as Manafort and Trump adviser Roger Stone. Family members were also beneficiaries of his pardon power — most notably, Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In the hours before leaving office, Trump added to the list Ken Kurson, a confidante of Jared Kushner’s and former New York Observer editor who had been accused of cyberstalking.
In parceling out his mercy, Trump appeared to reward many of his fiercest defenders and big donors.
Former Rep. Robin Hayes of North Carolina — one of three former Congress members granted clemency on Tuesday — drew support for his pardon from his home state Sen. Thom Tillis and members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation. Former Rep. Duke Cunningham’s conditional pardon was supported by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Broidy, a former deputy national finance chair of the Republican National Committee, had the support of Rep. Devin Nunes, a staunch Trump ally, and Bernie Marcus, the Home Depot co-founder and Republican donor. Real estate investor Tom Barrack, Trump’s friend, encouraged the pardon of Robert Zangrillo, the venture capitalist and father who stood accused in the national college admissions cheating scandal.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Miriam Adelson, the widow of the Republican billionaire megadonor Sheldon Adelson, were among supporters of Trump’s pardon of Aviem Sella.
At least one recipient of a pardon, the former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski, appeared to recognize the benefit of having well-placed support, which included, among others, the tech giant Peter Thiel.
Past presidents, said Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist who worked to defeat Trump last year, “always let off some unseemly guy who was a donor or whatever.” But Trump’s clemency grants, he said, are at “a whole different level.”
“This is pardoning your friends who are doing illegal behavior on your behalf,” Madrid said. “It’s all of his henchmen.”
Saul Anuzis, a former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, said it isn’t unusual for presidents to pardon people who are politically connected. Wherever Trump’s number of pardons for such people fall on the historic scale, he said, is “a statistic, and that’s about it.”
Most people, Anuzis said, “don’t know, don’t remember or don’t really care that much … Pardons are a minor part of any president’s term.”
In the broadest strokes, that is true. Many of Trump’s pardons were for nonviolent drug offenders serving long sentences. And even Trump’s fiercest critics will likely define his presidency less by his issuance of pardons than by his two impeachments and the deadly riot he helped to incite at the Capitol.
But the degree of Trump’s politicization of the process was staggering nonetheless. Kedric Payne, a former deputy chief counsel of the Office of Congressional Ethics and former deputy general counsel at the U.S. Department of Energy during the Obama administration, said what discourages him most about Trump’s pardons are the large number of government officials absolved by Trump over the course of his term — not just former members of Congress, but also a slate of state and local officials.
“It’s an unprecedented amount of public officials who were committing crimes while in office who are being pardoned,” said Payne, now of the Campaign Legal Center, who put the number of government officials granted clemency during Trump’s term at 15. “That hasn’t happened in modern history, to pardon that many officials who were convicted of criminal activity.”
Payne said, “Other presidents have done it. You’ll find examples of Bill Clinton doing it, even going all the way back to Truman. But it’s typically two or three officials who receive pardons, not 15 … Fifteen, that’s unheard of. It just shows his true legacy of pardoning public corruption. It just shows that you have a president who would excuse, and almost approve of, this type of corrupt activity.”
Ginsberg viewed the spate of last-minute pardons, in concert with Trump’s lifting early Wednesday of his own rule restricting appointees from lobbying, as an ironic coda to a presidency that began with a promise to “drain the swamp” and an inaugural address lament that “for too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government.”
“That Trump’s Tuesday night combined another tranche of sleazy crony pardons with revoking his 2017 revolving door lobbying ban he bragged would drain the swamp will burn in the legacy of his presidency,” Ginsberg said. “And not in a positive way. In his hubris, he apparently didn’t consider, or didn’t care, how this might impact the Senate Republicans who will now be asked to ignore his actions and save ‘his reputation’ in the impeachment trial.”
President Biden, after taking the oath of office, talked about the importance of unifying the country, saying “my whole soul is in this.”
“Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation,” he said.
The President called on Americans to come together to overcome the extraordinary challenges that face the nation – an idea that he often mentioned on the campaign trail
“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,” Biden said.
“Uniting to fight the foes we face. Anger, resentment and hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness and hopelessness. With unity we can do great things, important things,” he added.
Trump signed the order in September, which took aim at diversity training for government workers by prohibiting the teaching of “divisive concepts.”
The order was expected to be reversed under Biden as part of a series of initial measures aimed at undoing a host of the Trump administration’s previous actions.
The order applied to the military, federal contractors, and grant recipients. Just after the order was signed, several federal agencies— including the State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — either halted or cancelled trainings and events on racism and LGBTQ+ equality.
The order was also met with legal challenges from civil rights groups who claimed it amounted to overreach.
Biden reversed the item as part of a larger executive order he signed aimed at “beginning the work of embedding equity across federal policymaking and rooting out systemic racism and other barriers to opportunity from federal programs and institutions,” according to an administration fact sheet.
The order also reversed the controversial 1776 commission, formed in response to The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 project.
Racial equality was a hot topic during the 2020 presidential campaign, as it coincided with protests against police brutality in the wake of the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
One has concerns about security after the violent riot that broke out at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Another is recovering from foot surgery. One wants to work on expediting Biden’s Cabinet confirmations, and one is quarantining after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.
It’s not shaping up to be the mass boycott seen four years ago, when more than 50 House Democrats didn’t show up for the swearing-in of Donald Trump in protest of what they considered his divisive politics. For the Democrats, the coordinated decision not to attend Trump’s inauguration came in a wave of statements and tweets.
There has been no such public boycott movement among Republicans this year—and even those who have said they will not go have done so with little fanfare.
“Our nation faces many unprecedented challenges, and I look forward to finding common ground with President Biden on areas where we may agree, and vigorously—but always respectfully—opposing policies where we do not,” Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said in a statement attributing his absence to recent surgery.
Representative Ron Wright said in a statement that he is quarantining after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.
“With that being said, I will not be attending the inauguration but I will be watching from my home in Arlington, Texas,” Wright said. “God bless the United States of America.”
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida revealed in a tweet Wednesday morning that he won’t make it to the inaugural ceremony because he has work to do on Biden’s Cabinet confirmations.
“I am in DC but will not be attending todays inauguration because I am working on addressing the remaining objections to an expedited Senate confirmation of President-Elect Biden’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence,” he wrote.
House members Andy Harris of Maryland and Bob Good of Virginia will also be skipping the festivities, according to a report from NBC 4. Newsweek reached out to Harris and Good for additional comment but did not hear back before publication.
Good, Harris, Greene and Write all voted against the certification of Biden’s election on January 6, after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and forced members into secure rooms while law enforcement tried to fend off armed rioters. Tillis and Rubio voted in favor of the certification of Biden’s election.
Biden’s inauguration festivities have been drastically scaled back because of the pandemic. Members of Congress, who traditionally attend the swearing in on the steps of the Capitol and distribute thousands of tickets to their constituents to line the National Mall, are limited to one guest apiece this year. Because of security threats following the Capitol riot, armed National Guardsmen are patrolling the Capitol grounds.
Trump also will be a no-show for Biden’s inauguration, breaking a long-standing tradition marking the transfer of presidential power. Vice President Mike Pence will attend.
Biden’s team didn’t immediately respond to Newsweek‘s request for comment on the anticipated no-shows. The president-elect is expected to give a nearly 30-minute address after he’s sworn in, focusing on unity.
The U.S. Capitol is prepared Tuesday for the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden. SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty
Some states are looking to curtail the practice of partisan maps. Voters in Michigan and Virginia have passed independent redistricting commissions (joining Arizona, California and Iowa, which already have them). But only the courts can put a stop to the worst gerrymanders — and the Supreme Court has been disinclined to do so.
Beyond the House of Representatives, what kind of ripple effect does gerrymandering have on state politics in those places where a single party controls the entire state government?
Since the election, we’ve seen Republican-controlled state legislatures in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin hold hearings to amplify false claims of voter fraud that led to Biden winning their states. In each state, Republicans drew the legislative maps after sweeping victories in 2010, effectively cementing themselves 10-year majorities.
Those lawmakers then made it harder to vote and, ahead of last year’s pandemic-era election in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, wrote the very vote-counting rules that Trump and his allies later falsely claimed had led to a fraudulent outcome. It all comes full circle.
New York Times Podcasts
How Republicans view the riot at the Capitol
Ahead of Biden’s inauguration, “The Daily” called up Trump supporters to hear their thoughts about the Capitol attack and its aftermath.
Mr. Biden never served in the military, having received draft deferments during the Vietnam War. But his display honored not only current and former members of the military but also called to mind his son Joseph R. Biden III, known as Beau, who served as an Army major and died of brain cancer in 2015.
The choice to visit the tomb immediately after the inauguration was a first for a newly elected president, providing a bipartisan display of support for the country’s armed forces.
Established in honor of unnamed soldiers lost in the First World War, the memorial has become a place to honor the sacrifices of American service members. Remains have been added over time, with burials conducted in 1958 and 1984 of those lost in later wars.
The memorial has been a favored destination for Mr. Biden, who also visited the site as vice president under Mr. Obama. Former President Trump, who did not attend Mr. Biden’s inauguration or the ceremony, laid a wreath there in 2017, but drew backlash for skipping events honoring fallen soldiers on Veterans Day the following year.
The former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton also stood by in silence as the ceremony took place.
Vice President Kamala Harris and incoming first lady Jill Biden took a stylish step into their new roles on Inauguration Day.
Harris and Biden were seen Wednesday wearing ensembles from emerging designers.
Harris, who often sports her signature Converse Chuck Taylors and pearls, wore a purple ensemble from Christopher John Rogers and Sergio Hudson to Mass with the Bidens on Wednesday.
Harris, who made history Wednesday as the first woman and woman of color to become vice president, notably chose to wear up-and-coming Black designers for the occasion.
Rogers is a Black designer from Baton Rouge who now lives in New York City, and Hudson is a Black designer from South Carolina.
Biden wore a dress and overcoat in ocean blue wool tweed, complete with a matching silk face mask and all by the New York-based label Markarian from young designer Alexandra O’Neill.
This Biden ensemble could end up being donated to the Smithsonian’s famous First Ladies Collection, because there won’t be any inaugural balls for the Biden inauguration and thus no inaugural gowns.
The coat was trimmed with dark blue velvet collar and cuffs and worn over a tapered dress with a chiffon bodice and scalloped skirt. The dress neckline was hand-embellished with Swarovski pearls and crystals in a floral pattern. Swarovski crystals also adorned the coat and dress, to reflect the light.
The color blue was chosen to signify trust, confidence and stability, according to a Markarian statement, which said the outfit was made by a small team in New York’s garment district and hand-finished by O’Neill in her West Village studio.
Markarian, named after a particularly radiant grouping of galaxies, combines O’Neill’s blend of what she calls celestial romanticism with timeless design and modern grace.
The women’s husbands wore American designer Ralph Lauren.
President Joe Biden wore a navy suit and navy overcoat.
Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, wore a Ralph Lauren suit.
On Tuesday night, Harris supported another emerging Black designer, wearing a beige coat by Pyer Moss from designer Kerby Jean-Raymond.
The color purple also was worn by Jill Biden on Tuesday night, which perhaps acts as a symbol of unity as the color is a combination of blue and red.
One has concerns about security after the violent riot that broke out at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Another is recovering from foot surgery. One wants to work on expediting Biden’s Cabinet confirmations, and one is quarantining after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.
It’s not shaping up to be the mass boycott seen four years ago, when more than 50 House Democrats didn’t show up for the swearing-in of Donald Trump in protest of what they considered his divisive politics. For the Democrats, the coordinated decision not to attend Trump’s inauguration came in a wave of statements and tweets.
There has been no such public boycott movement among Republicans this year—and even those who have said they will not go have done so with little fanfare.
“Our nation faces many unprecedented challenges, and I look forward to finding common ground with President Biden on areas where we may agree, and vigorously—but always respectfully—opposing policies where we do not,” Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said in a statement attributing his absence to recent surgery.
Representative Ron Wright said in a statement that he is quarantining after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.
“With that being said, I will not be attending the inauguration but I will be watching from my home in Arlington, Texas,” Wright said. “God bless the United States of America.”
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida revealed in a tweet Wednesday morning that he won’t make it to the inaugural ceremony because he has work to do on Biden’s Cabinet confirmations.
“I am in DC but will not be attending todays inauguration because I am working on addressing the remaining objections to an expedited Senate confirmation of President-Elect Biden’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence,” he wrote.
House members Andy Harris of Maryland and Bob Good of Virginia will also be skipping the festivities, according to a report from NBC 4. Newsweek reached out to Harris and Good for additional comment but did not hear back before publication.
Good, Harris, Greene and Write all voted against the certification of Biden’s election on January 6, after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and forced members into secure rooms while law enforcement tried to fend off armed rioters. Tillis and Rubio voted in favor of the certification of Biden’s election.
Biden’s inauguration festivities have been drastically scaled back because of the pandemic. Members of Congress, who traditionally attend the swearing in on the steps of the Capitol and distribute thousands of tickets to their constituents to line the National Mall, are limited to one guest apiece this year. Because of security threats following the Capitol riot, armed National Guardsmen are patrolling the Capitol grounds.
Trump also will be a no-show for Biden’s inauguration, breaking a long-standing tradition marking the transfer of presidential power. Vice President Mike Pence will attend.
Biden’s team didn’t immediately respond to Newsweek‘s request for comment on the anticipated no-shows. The president-elect is expected to give a nearly 30-minute address after he’s sworn in, focusing on unity.
The U.S. Capitol is prepared Tuesday for the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden. SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty
Outgoing first lady Melania Trump sported an orange-emblazoned Gucci dress after arriving in Palm Beach, Florida, from Washington, DC, with former President Donald Trump. This marked the duo’s last flight on Air Force One as president and first lady.
The Trumps, now Florida residents, waved to a crowd of supporters and took a motorcade to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where the pair opted to go in lieu of attending the incoming president’s inaugural bash.
Melania Trump wore an orange dress arriving in Florida.
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“It is my greatest honor and privilege to have been your president,” he said to cheers. “I wish the new administration great luck and great success, and I think they’ll have great success. They have the foundation to do something really spectacular.”
Melania Trump wore a black Chanel jacket and Dolce & Gabbana dress when leaving the White House.AFP via Getty Images
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