President-elect Joe Biden said President Trump should attend his inauguration.
The two-term vice president and 36-year Delaware senator explained the Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony was “important in the sense that we are able to demonstrate the end of this chaos that he’s created.”
“The protocol of the transfer of power, I think, is important. But it is totally his decision, and it’s — it has no personal consequence to me. But I do think it is for the country,” Biden told CNN on Thursday. “That there is peaceful transfer of power with the competing parties standing there, shaking hands, and moving on.”
With or without Trump’s involvement, inauguration formalities this cycle will be different from the past given the Biden team’s concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump is reportedly considering skipping the event entirely and instead announcing his 2024 White House bid.
When pressed on policies, both Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Thursday described their climate change plan as “progressive.” And Biden adopted a tougher stance on China after telling the New York Times on Wednesday he wouldn’t immediately roll back Trump’s tariffs, introduced as part of his trade war.
“It’s not about punishing them for the COVID virus. It’s about insisting that there be international norms that are established that they play by,” he said.
The Biden family’s foreign business dealings were problematic for the incoming president during the primary and general elections.
Trump’s interest in second son Hunter Biden’s business ties to China and Ukraine prompted an impeachment investigation into the incumbent. Hunter Biden, for instance, had a reported $50,000-a-month role with a Ukrainian natural gas company, despite having no experience in the energy sector, while his father was vice president.
The corporate interests of Joe Biden’s brothers James and Frank had also created issues for him during the campaigns.
“My son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict with where there’s appropriate distance from the presidency and the government,” Joe Biden said.
