The themes of Bidens 21-minute speech mirrored those he had put at the center of his presidential campaign, when he portrayed himself as an empathetic alternative to the divisive Trump, a Republican.
He had promised immediate action, and shortly after entering the White House on Wednesday afternoon he began signing a raft of executive actions to overturn some of Trumps most controversial policies.
The orders included mandating masks on federal property, rejoining the Paris climate accord, and ending a travel ban on some Muslim-majority countries.
Biden told reporters that Trump had left him a very generous letter but he would not disclose its contents until he had spoken to Trump.
The inauguration itself, one unlike any other in U.S. history, served as a stark reminder of both the tumult that defined the Trump era as well as the pandemic that still threatens the country.
Here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work on our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground, Biden said. It did not happen; it will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
The norm-defying Trump flouted one last convention on his way out of the White House when he refused to meet with Biden or attend his successors inauguration, breaking with a political tradition seen as affirming the peaceful transfer of power.
Trump, who never conceded the Nov. 3 election, did not mention Biden by name in his final remarks as president on Wednesday morning, when he touted his administrations record. He then boarded Air Force One for the last time and flew to his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida.read more
Biden sworn in as U.S. president, calls for end to ‘uncivil war’ – Toronto Sun
