Dawn of the Biden/Harris era
The TLDR: Ding, dong the witch is… Ok, not quite dead, but Donald Trump is most definitely out of power and the White House. Yesterday, a great part of America breathed a sigh of relief—even as Kamala Harris made history, and Joe Biden called for unity. Here’s a quick roundup of everything that went down on 1/20/21—a rare palindrome date and month (as per US format) that won’t repeat itself for a 1000 years.
A silent fortress
High security: Barbed wire, concrete barriers, convoys of soldiers and an eerily quiet Washington DC. This was an inauguration like no other. There were 8,000 members of the National Guard at Trump’s inauguration. The number for Biden: 25,000! The ceremony itself was small on numbers and high on social distancing.
BBC News has details of the super-tight security arrangements. The Atlantic pulled together a powerful photo gallery that is a must-see.
A damp squib: Mercifully, despite all the chatter and anxiety there wasn’t a single untoward incident. In the wake of the Capitol attack, Trump’s loyal band of crazies—i.e. Rightwing extremists and white supremacists—have been thrown into a state of confusion. Some of the most visible groups like Proud Boys (a group of deeply misogynistic thugs) told their supporters to stay away.
But conspiracy theorists like QAnon were holding out for ‘The Storm’: a secret Trump plan to put a dramatic end to the inauguration in a massive military crackdown. When it did not happen, message boards were rife with despair and confusion. But as experts warn, reality checks rarely defuse such cult-like groups:
“We expect this to weaken their numbers but strengthen their resolve—and extremism… With the Biden presidency upon us, QAnon is entering a new period of deflation, heightening the risk that QAnon followers will harm themselves or others around them, as we’ve seen happen again and again.”
And extremist groups have readied themselves on platforms like Telegram to groom, recruit and radicalise disoriented Trump supporters.
The Trump exit
Being a sore loser, Trump refused to attend the swearing in ceremony, and headed out to his golf resort in Florida in the morning. In attendance to wish him goodbye: a few hundred supporters, a handful of White House staff and his family (watch it here). The baby Trumps got a little weepy:
And yes, he made a speech that tried to sound presidential (watch it here), and has left a letter for Biden as is customary for outgoing presidents. Biden claims it is “very generous” but plans to keep it private. Smart.
What’s next: Angry at top Republicans who seem to have turned on him, Trump is now contemplating starting his own party called—what else—Patriot Party. Maybe that’s why he pardoned all the crooks who helped get him into the White House.
The most apt moment: of Trump’s exit was the military band playing ‘Hit the Road, Jack!’ outside the White House the evening before he left. Lol!
The I-Day ceremony
Biden checks in: The day went pretty much to plan. Biden was sworn in and made a speech (watch it here). It was calm, conciliatory but also urgent—underlying the daunting challenges that kick in from day one. What caught our attention:
“The cry for survival comes from the 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.”
That may be the first time a US president has identified domestic terrorism as the #1 threat—as opposed to Al Qaeda etc. Washington Post has an annotated version of the speech.
The performances: Jennifer Lopez wore all-white to show she meant business, and sang ‘This Land Is Your Land’—she ended with a plug for her 2000 single ‘Let’s Get Loud’?!
Lady Gaga’s performance was more notable for her signature fashion choices—a fabulously OTT red gown (which led to this very Gaga-esque moment with the National Guard). Her rendition of the national anthem was expectedly kickass.
Amanda Gorman became the youngest poet at an inaugural ceremony—personally picked by her fan, first lady Jill Biden. And her poem ‘The Hill We Cimb’ hit many of the same notes as Biden’s speech (watch it here or read it here):
“We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony for all. Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true. That even as we grieved, we grew.”
The Kamala Harris moment
The moment she made history as the first woman/Black/Indian American vice president looked like this:
Of course, her village in Tamil Nadu was delirious with excitement. There were diyas galore at night and even tasty Kamala murukku. The women who made it said: “We all are very excited. She has surely inspired many women in the village.” Hence, it was all the more ironic that the big celebration at the village looked like this:
Happily, Harris tweeted out this inspirational video acknowledging the debt she owes to all the women who came before her.
The worst: for the worst Harris headline goes to Times of India: ‘The Color Purple: In a historic moment, Kamala channels unity and femme fettle.’
The best: Our favourite tweet: Hillary Clinton who said, “It delights me to think that what feels historical and amazing to us today—a woman sworn in to the vice presidency—will seem normal, obvious, 'of course' to Kamala's grand-nieces as they grow up. And they will be right.” The photo accompanying the message made it just perfect.
What’s next: The lovely optics apart, what’s truly heartening is the key role she will play in the Biden White House. Many VPs are ornamental—picked for the vote blocs they bring than their policy acumen. But not Harris. For starters, in a Senate divided 50-50, she will hold the tie-breaking vote. Also this:
“Current and former aides to both Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris say that while dealing with the Senate will be important to her job, she has not been assigned a specific issue portfolio, at least at the outset, and will instead serve as a governing partner to Mr. Biden on all of his top priorities. If fulfilled, that mandate could make her among the most influential vice presidents in history.”
The Biden White House
A lot of the first steps will be about undoing the damage. Within hours of taking office, Biden signed a flurry of executive orders which included:
- rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change and the WHO.
- repealing Trump's restrictions on travel bans on Muslims.
- stopping construction of Trump’s beloved wall on the Mexico border.
- mandating face masks on federal property.
- Top of the legislative agenda: a sweeping immigration bill that will put an end to caging children in detention camps.
On the global front: most other nations expect a “pragmatic gentlemanly” approach. Iran is getting ready to go back to the negotiating table over the nuclear deal that Trump broke. But China may not be off the hook—given his Secretary of State Janet Yellen’s recent remarks. Relations with India will pretty much stay the course—minus Howdy Modi concerts, of course.
The bottomline: A new day does not erase the burdens of the past—but it offers the hope of a fresh start at tackling old problems.
Reading List
- Buzzfeed News and The Atlantic have the best photos.
- Washington Post has more on Biden’s foreign policy, while Mint and The Print looks at what it might mean for India. Axios decodes his Iran dilemma.
- For his domestic priorities: check out NBC News or the New York Times.
- New York Times has the best read on Kamala Harris’ role in the Biden administration.
- Daily Mail has a lovely story on how Harris’ mother saved Kamala’s best friend from her abusive step-father.
- BBC News asked historians to weigh in on Trump’s legacy.