Joe's pandemic inauguration: Biden WILL be sworn-in outside the Capitol on January 20th but will plead with people not to come and will slash number of attendees around him on platform
President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn-in in front of the U.S. Capitol, but organizers have asked supporters not to come due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
'The [Presidential Inaugural Committee] is urging the public to refrain from any travel and participate in the inaugural activities from home,' a PIC announcement said Tuesday.
The committee said the ceremony's footprint will be 'extremely limited' and the parade - that traditionally delivers the newly sworn-in president back to the White House via Pennsylvania Avenue - will be 'reimagined.'
President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn-in in front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, following tradition, but the inauguration will be scaled-down to follow COVID-19 health and safety protocols
The stage for the presidential inauguration is being built outside the U.S. Capitol, but organizers are asking the public to not show due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic
A viewing stand across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House is being constructed for the inaugural parade, which organizers say will proceed but be 'reimagined'
For several weeks, workers have been building the inaugural parade viewing stands on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House
The stand can be seen being erected for the inaugural parade from the North Lawn of the White House
The Washington Post reported that fewer officials would be onstage with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris during the swearing-in and speech.
Construction of the inaugural platform in front of the U.S. Capitol and the parade viewing stand in front of the White House commenced weeks ago.
Biden and Harris have taken COVID-19 safety protocols much more seriously than outgoing President Donald Trump, who held large rallies, often with mask-less crowds, in the run-up to the November 3 election.
He's since held a large rally in Georgia, in support of GOP Senate candidates, on December 5. He's also hosted large, indoor Christmas and Hanukkah parties at the White House, despite the current COVID-19 surge and a history of White House outbreaks.
During the campaign, Biden, Harris and their surrogates held drive-in movie style rallies to get their message out in front of crowds, but with social distancing, as supporters were told to stay in or around their cars.
Biden will hold this kind of rally Tuesday afternoon in Atlanta, Georgia on behalf of the Democratic Senate candidates, Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
On January 20, the PIC announced that Biden and Harris would take their oaths of office in a 'historic ceremony that includes vigorous health and safety protocols.'
The aim, the committee said, was to have a ceremony that 'honors and resembles sacred American traditions while keeping Americans safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19.'
The release also previewed Biden's speech saying that it 'lays out his vision to beat the virus, build back better, and bring the country together.'
The PIC has brought on a chief medical adviser, Dr. David Kessler, who Biden already tapped to be co-chair of his COVID-19 advisory board.
Kessler is former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, serving under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Stephanie Cutter, President Barack Obama's deputy campaign manager in 2012, will serve as an executive producer for the inauguration.
Inauguration day typically begins at the White House with the outgoing president greeting the incoming one.
So far, Trump has refused to concede the election and has suggested he might make the unprecedented move of skipping the affair.
'I don’t want to talk about that,' Trump said on Fox & Friends Sunday when asked if he would go.
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