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WASHINGTON: Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday (January 20) with a call for unity, vowing to bridge deep divisions and defeat internal extremism two weeks after a mob attack tried to undo his electoral victory.
On a cold but sunny day in the same Capitol building that was robbed on January 6, Biden was sworn in moments after Kamala Harris, who became America’s first female vice president, turned the page of the tumultuous four. years of Donald Trump.
“Democracy is precious, democracy is fragile, and at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed,” Biden said before a National Mall that was practically empty due to ultra-tight security and a raging COVID-19 pandemic that promised to face. immediately.
“This is the day of the United States, this is the day of democracy. A day of history and hope.”
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“We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls rather than harden our hearts, if we show a little tolerance and humility and are willing to put yourself in the other person’s shoes “.
“Together we will write an American story of hope, not fear, of unity, not division, light, not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healings and goodness.”
Biden also appealed to Trump supporters and vowed to listen to all parties after four years of deep polarization.
“I will be a president for all Americans,” he said.
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But Biden faced head-on rising domestic extremism, as seen during Trump’s presidency in the Capitol Mafia, deadly attacks on synagogues and immigrants, and a violent march by neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The United States faces “an increase in political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and will defeat,” Biden said.
“Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh reality that racism, nativism, fear and demonization have long torn us apart.”
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS
Biden, who was Barack Obama’s vice president and first ran for president in 1987, plans to start his term with a flurry of 17 orders.
Officials said Biden will immediately join the Paris climate accord and stop the United States from leaving the World Health Organization and set new paths on immigration, the environment, COVID-19 and the economy.
Biden, who has promised a large escalation of vaccination against COVID-19, warned of a “dark winter” still ahead of the pandemic that has claimed more than 400,000 lives in the United States, more than in any other country.
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“We are entering what may be the most difficult and deadly period for the virus,” Biden said.
“We must put politics aside and finally face this pandemic as one nation,” he said.
Biden will also end Trump’s much-attacked ban on visitors from several Muslim-majority countries and halt construction of the wall that Trump ordered at the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration, attendees said.
With so many domestic challenges, Biden went into little depth in his inaugural foreign policy speech, a long-time passion for the former senator, but said, “We will mend our alliances and engage the world once again.”
