Taking the oath for the second time, President Donald Trump promised sweeping changes and a “revolution of common sense” and bluntly criticized his Democratic predecessor.
“We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad,” Trump said while President Biden and Vice President Harris were sitting close by.
“It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world.” Trump probably didn’t know it, but 15 minutes before leaving office, Biden pardoned his entire family — part of an unprecedented series of pardons by an outgoing president.
“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics,” Biden said in his last official statement in office. “Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”
It was one of a series of awkward moments on Inauguration Day — one of which was saved by singer Carrie Underwood. She was supposed to have a musical accompaniment on singing “America the Beautiful” but there was a glitch, so Underwood grabbed the mic and did a flawless version a capella.