Biden to attend Trump inauguration in bid to restore traditions of peaceful transition of power

By Derek Wallbank

President Joe Biden said he’s determined to peacefully hand over power later this month, while warning against efforts to downplay the violent mob assault on the US Capitol that sought to prevent certification of his own election four years ago.

Writing in a Washington Post op-ed published online the evening before lawmakers meet to count the Electoral College votes that will confirm Donald Trump as his successor, Biden said he’s “determined to do everything I can to respect the peaceful transfer of power and restore the traditions we have long respected in America.”

“The election will be certified peacefully,” Biden wrote. “I have invited the incoming president to the White House on the morning of January 20, and I will be present for his inauguration that afternoon.”

Biden also noted that Vice President Kamala Harris, as president of the Senate, is also set to preside as Congress counts the Electoral College votes, which will conclude with lawmakers formally certifying her loss.

Trump has repeatedly downplayed the events of January 6, 2021, and suggested many have been unfairly prosecuted for their participation in it. As president, Trump would have the authority to fully pardon those involved or shorten sentences through commutations.

Biden, without mentioning Trump by name, said “an unrelenting effort has been underway to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day” and to “tell us we didn’t see what we all saw with our own eyes.” He said Americans cannot forget and instead should remember January 6 “as a day when our democracy was put to the test and prevailed.”