Biden Urges Unity Before Taking over Crisis-laden White House

Just 48 hours before becoming president, Joe Biden pressed Monday for unity, while President Donald Trump remained secluded in the White House at the center of a capital inundated with troops and security barriers.

Biden was marking the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday with a trip from his home in Delaware to Philadelphia to perform community service — a gesture symbolizing his call for Americans to come together after four divisive years.

“Service is a fitting way to start to heal, unite, and rebuild this country we love,” Biden said in a video marking the occasion.

But the 78-year-old Democrat’s fervent appeals for optimism and healing — which are also set to dominate his inauguration ceremony at noon on Wednesday — are running up against the hard reality of multiple crises.

Covid-19 is out of control, vaccine distribution is stumbling, and economic recovery remains in the balance.

And after Trump refused for more than two months to accept the results of November’s presidential election the country is seething with division and anger. When Biden takes the oath of office at noon on Wednesday, he will face a city under the protection of 20,000

National Guard soldiers.

Checkpoints and large zones closed to ordinary citizens mean there will be only a smattering of guests. Similar lockdowns have been imposed at state capitol buildings around the country where local authorities fear provocations from rightwing groups ahead of the inauguration.

A brief security scare on Monday near Congress sparked an evacuation of the site where Biden will take the oath.

Trump, who has still not congratulated Biden or invited him for the traditional tea visit in the Oval Office, has been largely out of the public eye since his supporters rampaged through Congress on January 6, triggering his historic second impeachment a week later.

According to US media, one of Trump’s final actions could be announced Tuesday at the latest: scores of pardons for convicted criminals.

Speculation is mounting over whether Trump will take the unprecedented and legally murky step of issuing himself and his children, who work as campaign and White House advisors, preemptive pardons.

According to CNN and other outlets, Trump has a list of about 100 people he will grant clemency.