Biden urges unity, Trump approval rating hits new low

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On the verge of becoming president, Joe Biden pushed for unity today, while President Donald Trump remained isolated at the White House in downtown Washington DC, a city awash with troops and security barriers.

Biden marked Martin Luther King’s American public holiday with a trip from his home in Delaware to pack bags of food for a charity in Philadelphia, a gesture symbolizing his call for Americans to unite after four years of division.

“Service is a fitting way to begin to heal, unite and rebuild this country we love,” the 78-year-old Democrat said in a video marking the occasion.

But Biden’s fervent calls for optimism and healing, which will also dominate his inauguration ceremony at noon Wednesday, are faced with the harsh reality of multiple crises.

Covid-19 is out of control in the US, vaccine distribution is faltering, and economic recovery remains at stake.

And after Trump refused for more than two months to accept the results of the November presidential election, the country is seething with division and anger.

When Biden is sworn in on January 20, he will face a city under the protection of more than 20,000 National Guard soldiers.

Checkpoints and large areas closed to ordinary citizens mean there will only be a few guests.

Similar closures have been imposed on state capitol buildings across the country, where local authorities fear provocations from right-wing groups ahead of the inauguration.

A brief security scare today near Congress prompted the evacuation of the site where the president-elect will be sworn in.

A practice session for the ceremony included members of the US military who marched in a dress rehearsal, including the Old Guard Fife and the Drum Corps.

In a culturally significant brand, legendary country singer Garth Brooks said he would join the musical lineup at the Joe Biden ceremony and emphasized that this “is not a political statement, it is a statement of unity.”

Trump, who has yet to congratulate Joe Biden or invite him to the traditional Oval Office tea visit, has been largely out of the public eye since his supporters stormed Congress on January 6, which which triggered his historic second impeachment trial a week later.

His latest Gallup poll as president showed he was retiring with a 34% approval rating, his all-time low. His 41% overall average since he took office is also the lowest for the approval rating of any presidency since Gallup began measuring in 1938.

According to the US media, one of Trump’s final actions could be announced tomorrow at the latest: dozens of pardons for convicted criminals.

Speculation is mounting whether the outgoing president will take the unprecedented and legally murky step of granting himself and his children, who work as campaign and White House advisers, pre-emptive pardons.

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According to CNN and other outlets, Donald Trump has a list of about 100 people to whom he will grant clemency.

Possible controversial pardons that have been the subject of speculation for months would include the likes of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Trump’s influential adviser Stephen Bannon.

Trump, the first president to lose re-election since George HW Bush was replaced by Bill Clinton, is skipping the inauguration of Joe Biden, the first former president to snub his successor in a century and a half.

On Wednesday, he will travel to his Mar-a-Lago golf club residence in Florida, leaving the White House early to benefit from full presidential travel privileges until the last minute.

Marine One will take you from the White House to Joint Base Andrews to take Air Force One, the presidential plane that you will no longer be able to use after noon.

Joe Biden has promised swift action to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and boost the ailing US economy once he takes office on Wednesday, but his goal of uniting the divided country could be undermined by the impeachment of Donald Trump in the Senate.

The Lower House of Representatives accused the president of inciting insurrection after he encouraged the protest that led to the violent assault on the United States Capitol.

The first impeachment trial of the US president, in January 2020 for his efforts to pressure Ukraine to help him discredit Joe Biden, lasted 21 days.

A similarly long trial would now ruin Biden’s ambitious plans for his first 100 days, but he has expressed confidence, based on his 36 years in the Senate, that the chamber can do two things at once.

Kamala Harris will create history on January 20

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff also helped out with a local charity today, volunteering at Martha’s Table in Washington, DC.

Harris will break one of the tallest glass ceilings on Wednesday when she is sworn in as America’s first female vice president, blazing a trail in the most diverse White House in history.

As a running mate to incoming President Joe Biden, she helped end Donald Trump’s turbulent government, rapping him during the campaign for his chaotic handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, last year’s riots over racial injustice, and his crackdown on the immigration.

Harris, 56, enters office already forging a unique path, as California’s first black attorney general and the first woman of South Asian descent elected to the United States Senate.

As vice president, she will be one step away from leading the United States.

Given that the 78-year-old Biden is expected to serve only one term, Harris would be the frontrunner to win the Democratic nomination in 2024, giving her a chance to make more history, as the first female president of the United States.

“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” she said in a November 7 speech.

During the election campaign, Donald Trump routinely attacked Ms. Harris, calling her a “monster” after his October vice presidential debate with Mike Pence.

When questioned by reporters, Harris brusquely dismissed the president: “I do not comment on your childish remarks.”

The White House will bark crazy again

After Donald Trump was the first president in more than a century to not have a dog, the Bidens will bring two with them.

German Shepherds Champ and Major, as well as a cat, whose breed and name have yet to be revealed, will move into the White House on Wednesday.

Champ has been with the Bidens since 2008. The family adopted Major in 2018.

Champ is one of two Biden dogs that will take a four-legged walk to the White House.

According to Biden’s team, Major will be the first foster dog to live in the White House.

The canine companions appeared in one of Biden’s campaign ads that warned voters to “choose their humans wisely,” featuring clips of Donald Trump poking fun at the idea of ​​a presidential mascot.

The two good guys also starred in the Bidens’ Christmas message.

A cut video between takes of Champ, relaxing by a Christmas tree with a quiet instrumental version of We Wish You A Merry Christmas playing in the background.

There were also clips of Major playing and zooming around the house with an electric guitar version of the Christmas carol.



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