In his speech on Thanksgiving Wednesday, Joe Biden faced historical hardships and deep personal loss to passionately call for flexibility and asked Americans to endure a national epidemic amid restrictions on travel and gatherings to fight the epidemic.
In the United States, more than 12.6 million cases of Covid-19 have been registered and more than 260,000 people have died. Vaccinations are imminent, but hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise, straining infrastructure to breakthroughs as drivers warn of an impending disaster.
His speech struck a ticket. “We need to remember that we are fighting the virus, not each other,” Biden said from Wilmington, Delaware, where he will continue his interim work before his inauguration as 46th president in Washington on January 20th.
The tone was in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s speech, who, shortly after Biden spoke, announced in a tweet that he would grant full pardon to Michael Flynn, his first national security adviser, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI by a Russian official.
While Trump allowed the Biden transition to continue, he did not acknowledge his defeat and did not stop the baseless allegations of election fraud. The president on Wednesday canceled a trip to Gettysburg to support efforts to overthrow Pennsylvania’s defeat, after at least two assistants from attorney Rudy Giuliani proved to be positive for Covid-19. Instead, Trump spoke from a distance to state Republicans, claiming, “This election was lost to Democrats. They cheated. They were fraudulent choices.
On the national stage, such words increasingly appear to be environmental noise. In Wilmington, on a podium decorated with the “office of the elected president,” and against a strict golden background, Biden opened by quoting a plaque at Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania, commemorating December 18, 1777, the first official Thanksgiving celebrated here. in the midst of war with Britain.
Echoing previous speeches by historian Jon Meacham, Biden said George Washington’s army “celebrated the day under extremely harsh conditions and deprivation.
“In the absence of food, clothing, shelter, they were prepared to ride in the long, hard winter … Despite the suffering, they showed a respect and character that forged the soul of the nation. Faith, courage, sacrifice, service to the country, service to one another, and gratitude, even in the face of suffering, have long been part of what Thanksgiving means in America. “
Nearly 250 years later, families across America are preparing for a vacation with their distant or completely lost loved ones. Turning from epic to personal, Biden remembered his own family’s first Thanksgiving, without his wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, and his young daughter, Naomi, who died in a 1972 car accident.
“I know this season can be especially difficult,” he said. – Believe me, I know. I remember that first Thanksgiving. The empty chair, silence that holds your breath. It is very difficult to care for. It’s hard to say thank you … It’s so hard to hope, to understand.
“I will think and pray for all of you this Thanksgiving.”
In a year marked by a bitter partisan divide, the President-elect also said “simply extraordinary” participation: “Let us be grateful to democracy itself. This year we tried our democracy and we learned that. The people of America are up to the task. “
Biden is the first presidential candidate to receive more than 80 million votes. But Trump was only 6 feet behind.
“The opportunity comes from the pain. Development comes from frustration. Beyond division, unity, ”Biden said.
His words also contrast with Trump’s actions. The president won an election lawsuit in a battlefield state – but he lost 36. Nonetheless, it continues to solicit donations for future political action, including a possible 2024 run of the White House.
Nevertheless, 56 days later, Biden replaces Trump in office. He presented his nominations for key foreign policy and national security positions and is said to be naming his economic team on 2 December. You will receive the President’s daily intelligence from Monday.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress are preparing for Biden to abandon Trump’s state-level approach to fighting the epidemic and build a national strategy instead. Democrats believe a Biden plan should include elements of the House’s $ 2-tonne corona virus subsidy bill, which aims to boost the U.S. economy. Republicans have resisted big spending, but agree that new funding is needed.
Biden also has to plan to vaccinate hundreds of millions.
In an interview broadcast on NBC on Tuesday, he said, “A [Trump] the administration has created an introduction [of] according to them, how it should happen, what will be available when and how. And let’s see. And we can change that, we can keep the same outline. But it’s on the train now. We have not yet received this briefing.
Last week, some MPs expressed anger over Bidendel’s lack of federal coordination. On Tuesday, Health Secretary Alex Azar said his department began working with the president-elect “immediately” after the General Services Directorate recognized the election result. He did so on Monday, more than two weeks after the competition was announced.
Biden told NBC that he said vaccine distribution “obviously needs to focus on doctors, nurses and the people who are the first respondents. I think we also need to focus on opening schools as quickly as possible. I think it can be done safely … Now maybe the hope is that we can really start distributing, this administration can start distributing it before we take an oath to take office.
In a speech in Wilmington on Wednesday, Biden welcomed “significant record progress in vaccine development” and said the United States is “well on its way to launching its first vaccinations, which will begin in late December and early January.
– We need to develop a dissemination plan in order to immunize the whole country as soon as possible, which we will do. It will take time. Hopefully, the news of the vaccine will encourage all Americans to take simple steps to control the virus.
Biden listed such steps, including wearing a mask, social distance, and more.
“There is real hope,” he said. – Tangible hope.
