US President Joe Biden laid a wreath at historic Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to honor the country’s fallen soldiers on Veterans Day, an event that marks his first public appearance with Vice President Kamala Harris. from his electoral defeat before the current president-elect, Republican Donald Trump, last week.
The ceremony, held at the iconic cemetery across the Potomac River in Washington, is also the first time Harris has been seen in public since her Nov. 6 speech, when she acknowledged Trump’s victory in the presidential election. according to AFP.
Democrats, who appear to be facing a reckoning in light of their resounding election loss, have begun soul-searching internal discussions — and some not-so-private finger-pointing — about what caused Harris’ loss. Some of them point to Biden’s initial insistence on running again at age 81, despite having promised to be a bridge president to the next generation.
Criticism of Harris herself has been more moderate. Biden praised her last Thursday in a televised speech at the White House.
In Photos | The United States commemorates Veterans Day
President Joe Biden arrived at Arlington National Cemetery, in Virginia, to participate in the tributes in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier.
On Monday morning, Biden hosted veterans at the White House to mark the holiday before heading to Arlington, the final resting place of two presidents, generals from all of America’s major wars and thousands of other American service members.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life, to lead you, to serve you, to care for you, to defend you, just as you defended us, generation after generation after generation,” Biden said.
“You are the greatest fighting force and this is not hyperbole, the best fighting force in the history of the world,” according to a report from The Associated Press.
Highlights help for veterans and family members
Biden recalled trips to U.S. military installations around the world and historic military sites such as Valley Forge and Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
He also announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs is expanding the types of cancers covered by the PACT Act, which it signed to expand health care services for veterans who served on military bases where toxic smoke billowed from “burn pits.” .
More than a million veterans and families have already received help under the law, he said. Biden and Harris, both dressed in dark suits, placed their hands over their hearts before participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The president was scheduled to deliver a speech at the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater. The ceremony comes before Biden welcomes Trump to the White House on Wednesday.
The Republican has begun appointing loyalists to his new administration. He announced that he will bring back into the fold a hardline immigration official, Tom Homan, to serve as his so-called “border czar,” and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump himself has long claimed to be a fierce supporter of the US military, but he has made a series of controversial comments about veterans in the past.
His longest-serving White House chief of staff, retired Gen. John Kelly, has said the Republican leader privately disparaged U.S. military service members, including describing those who died or were imprisoned defending America as ” fools” and “losers.” Trump denies the accusation.
The soon-to-be 47th president has publicly expressed his disdain for the late American war hero and Senator John McCain, who spent years in a Hanoi prison during the Vietnam War.
After the ceremony, Biden traveled to his home in Wilmington, Delaware, for reasons the White House had not yet disclosed.
[Con información de Agence France-Presse y The Associated Press]
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