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Bidens thank frontline workers battling COVID pandemic
President-elect Joe Biden and future first lady Jill Biden said in a message to Americans on Thanksgiving Day that though 2020 has had increased challenges for many across the country and families may not be able to gather as usual, there is still much to be grateful for.
“We’re going to get through this together, even if we have to be apart,” the Bidens wrote in an op-ed published by CNN Thursday.
They acknowledged families who will have an “empty chair” during the holiday because they have lost a loved one to the virus, or because they will socially distance to prevent spreading the coronavirus. The Bidens are celebrating in Rehoboth Beach, Del., with a smaller group of people rather than their usual family gathering in Nantucket.
“These moments with our loved ones — time that’s lost — can’t be returned. Yet, we know it’s the price of protecting each other and one we don’t pay alone. Isolated in our own dining rooms and kitchens, scattered from coast to coast, we are healing together,” the Bidens said.
The pair thanked essential workers amid the coronavirus pandemic, including health care workers, teachers, grocery store employees and scientists working on treatments and a vaccine.
“Most of all, we are grateful for the faith and trust we have been given to continue serving this beautiful, brave, complicated nation as your future President and first lady,” they said.
— Jeanine Santucci
President Trump expected to spend Thanksgiving at the White House
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and the first lady will be spending Thanksgiving at the White House for the first time since he began his tenure as president instead of at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
It is uncertain whether the change in scenery is attributable to the rising number of coronavirus cases, or the turbulence in his administration following the election loss.
The day before Thanksgiving offered a contrast between President-elect Joe Biden and Trump, who has yet to concede the election, and claims there was fowl play.
On Wednesday, Trump told a panel of Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania that the election was a “fraud” and falsely claimed he had won the pivotal battleground state.
Trump spoke to the group, which included Pennsylvania his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, via speakerphone after canceling earlier plans to attend in person.
President-elect Joe Biden urged Americans to remain patient for a coronavirus vaccine through Thanksgiving and called for unity.
“[The virus has] divided us, angered us, set us against one another,” Biden said. “I know the country has grown weary of the fight. But we need to remember: We’re at war with the virus, not with one another.”
Soon after on Wednesday, Trump said via Twitter that he issued a pardon to former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with a Russian ambassador prior to Trump’s inauguration.
More:President Trump pardons ex-natl security adviser Michael Flynn; ends three-year legal odyssey
White House Thanksgiving proclamation calls for Americans to ‘gather’
President Donald Trump’s annual Thanksgiving proclamation calls for Americans to “gather” for the holiday, even though his own agencies, and federal public health officials, have warned against it as COVID-19 cases spike.
Issued by the White House press secretary’s office Wednesday evening, the last line of the proclamation reads: “I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have asked Americans not to travel and to limit gatherings to those in immediate households to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus.
‘I have concerns’: Americans crowding airports for Thanksgiving, despite CDC plea to stay home
In multiple interviews, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, has expressed concern that holiday celebrations could further increase transmission rates of the coronavirus. He advises Americans to forgo their big, traditional holiday plans.
Holiday presidential proclamations are typically cursory statements put out by the White House, and similar language has been used in the past.
Despite the calls to gather, the proclamation also included sections dedicated to addressing the ongoing pandemic, reading, “This year, as our Nation continues to combat the coronavirus pandemic, we have once again joined together to overcome the challenges facing us” and nodded at first responders and medical professionals.
— Savannah Behrmann
Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/11/26/trump-thanksgiving-political-updates/6430438002/
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