Harris appears with Biden for first time since election loss
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US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris taking part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden laid a wreath on Nov 11 to honour the nation’s fallen soldiers on Veterans Day, an event marking his first appearance with Vice-President Kamala Harris since her election defeat last week.
The ceremony, at the historic Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, is also the first time Ms Harris has been seen in public since her Nov 6 speech in which she conceded the presidential election to Donald Trump.
Democrats, facing a painful reckoning over their drubbing, have begun soul-searching internal discussions – and some not-so-private blaming – over what caused Ms Harris’ loss, with some pointing to Mr Biden’s initial insistence on running again at the age of 81, despite having promised to be a bridge president to the next generation.
Criticism of Ms Harris herself has been more muted, and Mr Biden heaped praise on her on Nov 8 in a televised White House address.
Earlier on Nov 11, Mr Biden hosted veterans at the White House to mark the holiday before heading for Arlington, the final resting place of two presidents, generals from all major US wars, and thousands of other military personnel.
Mr Biden and Ms Harris, both dressed in dark suits, placed their hands on their hearts before participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The President was to deliver remarks at the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheatre.
The ceremony comes ahead of Mr Biden hosting Trump at the White House on Nov 13.
The Republican has begun naming loyalists to his new administration. He announced he is bringing a hardline immigration official, Mr Tom Homan, back into the fold to serve as his so-called “border czar”, and right-wing congresswoman Elise Stefanik to be US ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump himself has long claimed he is a fierce supporter of America’s military, but he has made a series of controversial comments about veterans.
His longest-serving White House chief of staff, retired general John Kelly, has said the Republican leader privately disparaged US service members, including describing those who died or were imprisoned defending America as “suckers” and “losers”.
Trump denies the accusation.
But the soon-to-be 47th president has been on record expressing contempt for late American war hero and senator John McCain, who spent years in a Hanoi prison during the Vietnam War. AFP
