Scaled-back inauguration to avoid virus spread, Biden says
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Workers putting up the stage for the presidential inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington last week. President-elect Joe Biden expects to be sworn in on Jan 20 on the platform, but wants to avoid the crowds that typically gather on the National Mall and along Pennsylvania Avenue to view the ceremony and parade.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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WILMINGTON (Delaware) • Setting a sharp contrast with President Donald Trump, whose administration began with a fight over the size of his inaugural crowds, President-elect Joe Biden has said he plans a scaled-back event for safety's sake during the pandemic.
The Democratic former vice-president said he does expect to be sworn in on Jan 20 on the platform already being constructed on the steps of the US Capitol, but wanted to avoid the crowds that typically gather on the National Mall and along Pennsylvania Avenue to view the ceremony and parade.
"My guess is there probably will not be a gigantic inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.
"But my guess is you'll see a lot of virtual activity in states all across America, engaging even more people than before," Mr Biden said in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, where he is preparing his new administration.
Mr Trump's administration memorably began in January 2017 with his then spokesman Sean Spicer berating the news media for publishing photos that showed far smaller crowds than had gathered for Mr Barack Obama's historic swearing-in as the nation's first black president eight years earlier.
Mr Biden said his team is working with the same members who produced August's largely online Democratic National Convention to plan a swearing-in that did not raise the risks of accelerating the spread of Covid-19, which has surged to another record high in the United States.
The ceremony typically begins with the outgoing president and the president-elect riding together from the White House to the Capitol. After the new president is sworn in, he rides back along Pennsylvania Avenue to assume his new duties while the former president departs, typically by helicopter.
Mr Trump, who has refused to concede the election, has not said if he will attend the ceremony.
Instead, according to a source in the know, he is considering launching his bid to run again in 2024 that day.
REUTERS
