CORONAVIRUS/IMPEACHMENT/JOE BIDEN: “The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States is going to look vastly different than those of his predecessors, given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and heightened security concerns after a mob of pro-Trump extremists violently breached the U.S. Capitol two weeks ago.
There will be no throngs of people massed beneath a platform at the Capitol. Also absent will be President Trump, who’s skipping town early…
Trump, who was impeached by the House of Representatives last week for inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol while lawmakers worked to certify Biden’s election victory, is breaking with 150 years of tradition by not joining Biden at the event. It’s customary for an outgoing president and other former presidents to sit behind a new president, symbolizing the peaceful transfer of power.
Biden called Trump’s decision not to attend ‘one of the few things he and I have ever agreed on.'”
-Barbara Sprunt, “Biden’s Inauguration Is Going To Look Very Different. Here’s What To Know,” npr.org, Jan. 18, 2021