US President Joe Biden laid a wreath to honor the country’s fallen soldiers on Veterans Day on Monday, an event that marked his first appearance with Vice President Kamala Harris since her election defeat last week.
The ceremony, held at historic Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, marks the first time Harris has been seen in public since her Nov. 6 speech in which she conceded the presidential election to Donald Trump.
Democrats, facing a painful reckoning over their defeat, have begun a soul-searching internal discussion — and some not-so-personal recriminations — over the cause of Harris’ defeat, with some 81-year-old This has pointed to Biden’s early insistence on running for re-election at the age of . Has promised to be the bridge president for the next generation.
Criticism of Harris herself has been more muted, and Biden praised Harris in a televised White House address last Thursday.
Earlier on Monday, Biden hosted veterans at the White House for a holiday before heading to Arlington, the final resting place of two presidents, generals from all major US wars and thousands of other military personnel.
Biden and Harris, dressed in dark suits, placed their hands over their hearts before participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The President was to deliver a speech in the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater.
The ceremony comes ahead of Biden hosting Trump at the White House on Wednesday.
Republicans have begun appointing loyalists to their new administration. He announced he was bringing back Tom Homan, a hard-line immigration official, to serve as his so-called “Border Czar” and appointing right-wing congresswoman Elise Stefanik to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump himself has long claimed to be a staunch supporter of America’s military, but he has made several controversial comments about veterans.
His longest-serving White House chief of staff, retired Gen. John Kelly, has said the Republican leader has personally disparaged American troops, including describing those who die while protecting America. died or went to jail, described as “suckers” and “losers”.
Trump denied the allegation.
But the soon-to-be 47th president has been expressing contempt for the late US war hero and Senator John McCain, who spent years in a Hanoi prison during the Vietnam War.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
