The Obamas will join former President Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Biden served as vice president alongside Obama for eight years, and the two remain close friends. The 44th president campaigned for Biden in the final weeks of the 2020 presidential race, while Michelle Obama delivered a stinging rebuke of Trump during the Democratic National Convention in August. The former first lady, who is among the most popular figures in the party, otherwise stayed off the campaign trail last year.
Biden s inauguration will be scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic, and officials have urged Americans to avoid traveling to the nation s capital to be there in person. Virtual events are planned, though the swearing-in ceremony is still expected to take place outside the Capitol.
In a statement, Perdue noted that while he finished ahead of Ossoff in the November general election, he had fallen short in the Jan. 5 runoff election, one of two in Georgia that helped hand Democrats control of the Senate.
“Although we won the general election, we came up just short of Georgia’s 50% rule, and now I want to congratulate the Democratic Party and my opponent for this runoff win,” Perdue said. “Bonnie and I will continue to pray for our wonderful state and our great country. May God continue to bless Georgia and the United States of America.”
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Biden made the remarks Friday afternoon as he introduced Boston Mayor Marty Walsh
“I did give serious consideration to nominating my friend Bernie Sanders to this position. I’m confident he could have done a fantastic job,” Biden said. “I can think of no more passionate, devoted ally to working people in this country.”
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“But after Tuesday s results in Georgia, keeping Democratic control of the United States Senate in a tie vote, Bernie and I agreed … we can’t put the control of the Senate at risk on the outcome of a special election in Vermont,” Biden continued.
The Hill has reached out to Sanders s office for comment.
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Trump announced earlier on Friday that he would not be at Biden’s swearing-in ceremony later this month, breaking from the tradition of outgoing presidents attending their successors’ inaugurations.
Vice President Pence is expected to attend Biden’s inauguration.
Trump’s decision to stay away from the ceremony on Jan. 20 comes as he faces one of the deepest crises of his presidency. A mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as Congress met to certify last month’s Electoral College vote, disrupting the process and forcing lawmakers, congressional staffers and others to evacuate the building.
President Trump received 74 million votes in November, the most of any Republican in the history of the country by a country mile. The problem, of course, is that the other guy got 81 million votes while edging Trump in key states, including Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, to take the Electoral College.
But Trump was in the rare position of being well placed to run again in 2024 and squashing the competition in the same manner he did in 2016. He certainly would have had two things heavily in his favor: (A) Blotting out all other candidates – including President-elect Biden (or Vice President-elect Kamala Harris