(AFP) – President Joe Biden told US veterans Monday that serving as commander-in-chief had been the “greatest honor” of his life as he laid a wreath at a ceremony that marked his first appearance with Kamala Harris since her election defeat. The event, at historic Arlington National Cemetery, was also the first time Vice President Harris has been seen in public since her November 6 speech in which she conceded the presidential election to Donald Trump.
Democrats, facing a painful reckoning over their drubbing, have begun soul-searching internal discussions — and some not-so-private blaming — over what caused Harris’s loss, with some pointing to Biden’s initial insistence on running again at age 81, despite having promised to be a bridge president to the next generation. Criticism of Harris herself has been more muted, and Biden heaped praise on Harris last Thursday in a televised White House address.
Earlier Monday, Biden hosted veterans at the White House to mark the holiday before heading to Arlington, the final resting place of two presidents, five-star generals, and some 400,000 veterans of major US conflicts dating back to the Revolutionary War. At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Biden and Harris placed their hands on their hearts before participating in a wreath laying.
“This is the last time I will stand here at Arlington as commander-in-chief,” the president said in an address. “It’s been the greatest honor of my life to lead you, to serve you, to care for you, to defend you — just as you defended us, generation after generation after generation.” Biden spoke of his visits to veterans cemeteries in Europe, adding he would never forget “standing in the cliffs of Normandy, 80 years after D-Day, to honor the servicemembers and veterans who literally saved the world.” Afterwards, as “God Bless America” played, Biden dabbed both eyes with a handkerchief.
The ceremony came shortly before Biden hosts Trump at the White House on Wednesday. The Republican has begun naming loyalists to his new administration. He announced he is bringing a hardline immigration official, Tom Homan, back into the fold to serve as his so-called “border czar,” and rightwing congresswoman Elise Stefanik to be US ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump himself has long claimed he is a fierce supporter of America’s military, but he has made a series of controversial comments about veterans. His longest-serving White House chief of staff, retired general John Kelly, has said the Republican leader privately disparaged US servicemembers, including describing those who died or were imprisoned defending America as “suckers” and “losers.” Trump denies the accusation.
But the soon-to-be 47th president has been on record expressing contempt for late American war hero and senator John McCain, who spent years in a Hanoi prison during the Vietnam War. Trump posted on social media Monday a picture of himself saluting in front of the American flag, with the wording: “Happy Veterans Day 2024.”
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