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In a televised White House speech last Thursday, Joe Biden lavished praise on Kamala Harris, who has received less criticism.
On Veterans Day, US President Joe Biden laid a wreath in remembrance of the country’s fallen soldiers. This was Biden’s first time meeting Vice President Kamala Harris since her election loss last week.
Across the Potomac River from Washington, at the historic Arlington National Cemetery, the ceremony marks Harris’ first public appearance since her speech on November 6 in which she conceded the presidency to Donald Trump.
Some have pointed to Biden’s initial insistence on running again at age 81, despite having pledged to be a bridge president to the next generation, as the reason for Harris’s defeat. Democrats, facing a painful reckoning over their thrashing, have started soul-searching internal discussions—and some not-so-private blaming—about the matter.
While criticism of Harris herself has been more muted, Biden lavished Harris with praise in a televised White House speech last Thursday.
Before travelling to Arlington, the final resting place of two presidents, generals from all significant US wars, and thousands of other military personnel, Biden earlier Monday hosted veterans at the White House to commemorate the holiday.
Before taking part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Biden and Harris, both wearing dark suits, put their hands on their hearts.
The Memorial Amphitheatre in the cemetery was to host the president’s remarks.
The event takes place prior to Biden’s Wednesday White House visit with Trump.
The Republican has started appointing supporters of his new government. Tom Homan, a hardline immigration official, will return to his position as his so-called “border czar,” and Elise Stefanik, a right-wing congresswoman, will be appointed US ambassador to the UN, he announced.
Although Trump has made a number of divisive remarks regarding veterans, he has long maintained that he is an ardent supporter of the American military.
Retired general John Kelly, his longest-serving White House chief of staff, has claimed that the Republican leader has disparaged US service members in private, calling those who lost their lives or were imprisoned while defending America “losers” and “suckers.”
Trump refutes the charge.
However, the soon-to-be 47th president has previously expressed disdain for the late senator and American war hero John McCain, who was imprisoned in Hanoi for years during the Vietnam War.