LIVE BLOG: The Inauguration of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris
8:18 EST: Marine One leaves The White House with outgoing President Donald Trump. Trump is not the first U.S. president to miss his successor’s inauguration. Three other one-term presidents, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Johnson also did not attend their successors’ inauguration. Johnson, like Trump, was impeached while serving as president.
8:05 EST: Welcome to VOA Learning English’s coverage of the Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Kamala D. Harris.
Biden will soon be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. And Harris will be the first Black woman – as well as the first Asian-American – to become Vice President of the United States.
Some information to get you ready for Inauguration Day:
- Biden was the Vice President for eight years, serving with Barack Obama.
- He had been a senator from the state of Delaware before that.
- The outgoing president, Donald Trump, will not attend the ceremony in front of the U.S. Capitol Building. Biden defeated Trump in the election held on November 3, 2020. News organizations called the election for Biden later that week.
- Trump contested the election but did not have the facts to back up his idea that he won. Some wonder what would happen if he did not leave the White House.
- Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the recent attack by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol, there will be very few people in attendance.
- Approximately 25,000 troops are stationed throughout Washington, D.C. to provide security for the event.