President Joe Biden was officially sworn in Wednesday alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, taking the reins of power amid a turbulent moment in the nation’s history as America battles a once-in-a-generation pandemic surging while deep divisions grip the country.
“To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in democracy: unity, unity,” Biden said, pleading for a fractured nation to unify after vilifying it as white supremacist. Here’s what Biden said just before:
The cry for survival comes from planet itself, a cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear. And now a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.
No matter how deeply unserious Biden’s calls for unity might be, given the president has chosen to pursue a partisan progressive agenda from day one this afternoon, weaponizing identity politics while refusing to condemn a divisive impeachment of his predecessor, Democratic allies in legacy media were ready to cheer Biden’s arrival just as much as cheer for Trump’s exit while they prepare for a four-year vacation from hard-hitting journalism.
“A whole new day is at hand,” wrote taxpayer-funded PBS White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, whose entire Twitter feed this inauguration day reads as if she is a Democratic spokeswoman. Of course, Alcindor’s cover as an activist masquerading as a reporter has been well-documented throughout the Trump years.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr . is the president of the United States.
A whole new day is at hand.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) January 20, 2021
Alcindor’s glee was shared by virtually every other Beltway reporter and partisan Democratic pundit in Washington, the latter of whom are really just the honest versions of the first.
John King: "There's an air of cleansing about today."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 20, 2021
This is once again a country that self confidently believes in itself.
— David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) January 20, 2021
Just walking the dog and finding myself in tears. Relief? Patriotism? That ceremony restored something inside.
— Andrew Sullivan (@sullydish) January 20, 2021
Deleted pic.twitter.com/NPyHF1fTVb
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 20, 2021
https://twitter.com/Elex_Michaelson/status/1351936611294928903?s=20
Can we just take one moment and note Hillary's dignity and class through the last four years and into today?
— Ilyse Hogue (@ilyseh) January 20, 2021
Others gushed over the Democrats’ outfits, after legacy outlets spent years disparaging First Lady Melania Trump’s wardrobe with dubious double-standards. Those attending Wednesday’s inauguration did look stunning, as did Melania Trump departing for her own four-year vacation.
Watching CNN and hearing @KateBennett_DC tell me that Joe Biden is wearing Ralph Lauren today is exactly the type of stunningly normal—and boring—details that seems to have my blood pressure dropping by the hour today.
— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) January 20, 2021
This is cool: @RepBarbaraLee is telling MSNBC that she is wearing Shirley Chisolm's pearls today. Chisolm inspired Lee to get into politics; Lee was one of Harris's earliest champions on the Hill; women are wearing pearls today in solidarity with Harris.
— Emma Dumain (@Emma_Dumain) January 20, 2021
https://twitter.com/CharlotteAlter/status/1351923480472788992?s=20
And let’s not forget about Kamala Harris glowing in the wind.
One of the simple enduring images of the day: Kamala Harris’s hair blowing in the wind as she took the oath. No one with longer hair (in other words: a woman) has ever taken the oath of office outside at the Capitol before, because she’s the first woman to ever do it
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) January 21, 2021
Racism is now over too, apparently, according to this contributor at Vice.
in my house, on my feet, singing along to garth brooks at the top of my lungs and violently weeping because racism is finally over
— Trey Smith (@SlimiHendrix) January 20, 2021
The young activist poet who delivered a partisan speech rather than a unifying poem was also awarded prejudiced praise.
Remarkable: "There is always light if we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it."
— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) January 20, 2021
Presidential rhetoricians might consider including this poem in their studies.
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) January 20, 2021
National Review Editor Rich Lowry didn’t engage in the overly adoring coverage offered by the rest of the pundit class. Instead, Lowry made a point that while Biden’s comments felt genuine and sincere, they missed the mark when paired with the first actions of the unity-minded president.
“It’s obviously much easier to talk unity than achieve it, especially when pursuing a partisan, progressive agenda from Day One,” Lowry wrote on Twitter.
But obviously it’s much easier to talk unity than achieve it, especially when pursuing a partisan, progressive agenda from Day One
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) January 20, 2021
And of course, after banning Trump as part of Big Tech’s coordinated purge of conservative voices leading up to the inauguration, Twitter is promoting Biden.
https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1351945510928707584?s=20
