On Monday, as occurs every four years, the president of the United States was sworn into office. This time, of course, the inauguration was for the self-proclaimed politically persecuted Donald Trump, the former and now 47th U.S. president.
The inaugural speech, as anyone should have predicted, was filled with lies, insults and rhetoric that hearkens back to a mythical, once-great America, one that pursued and accomplished territorial expansion with violent fervor.
“The United States will, once again, consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territories, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag,” Trump said during his 30-minute speech. “It’s a new and beautiful horizon, and we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”
There will be endless analysis of this speech and the language Trump uses to invoke and harness centuries-old narratives of American mythology. But what is striking to us is the respect the now-president received from D.C.’s political establishment, an undue respect that Trump has and will never reciprocate.
As with any other inauguration, former presidents, their spouses and current members of Congress attended. Of course, outgoing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Trump defeated in November’s election, were in attendance as well.