President-elect Joe Biden gives upbeat Thanksgiving speech, says 'US at war with virus, not with each other'
A new president is set to take over the charges of America in January and leading the build-up, president-elect Joe Biden delivered an upbeat Thanksgiving address at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday, November 25, just after President Donald Trump made a call into a state Senate hearing in Pennsylvania where his attorneys appeared to continue his crusade against the results of the November 3 election.
The 78-year-old former vice-president said in his address that he believed “this grim season of division and demonization will give way to a year of light and unity” and he stressed love and what to be thankful for in a year which has seen the world struggling with the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
“We don't talk about love too much in our politics,” Biden, who has tried to project himself as the healer-in-chief after the country witnessed tremendous hardships in the year, said. “The public arena is too loud, too angry, too heated. To love our neighbors as ourselves is a radical act, yet it’s what we’re called to do.”
'Americans at war with virus, not with each other'
He added: “I know the country has grown weary of the fight, but we need to remember we're at war with a virus — not with each other. This is the moment where we need to steel our spines, redouble our efforts, and recommit ourselves to the fight. Let's remember — we are all in this together.”
Biden appealed to the Americans to observe Thanksgiving in a less detailed form because of the surge of the Covid-19 cases. A lot of states have imposed fresh restrictions on the festivities because of the pandemic which has already claimed more than 262,000 lives in the US and affected nearly 13 million. “This year, we’re asking Americans to forego many of the traditions that have long made this holiday such a special one,” Biden said, adding: “For our family, we’ve had a 40 plus year tradition of traveling over Thanksgiving, a tradition we’ve kept every year save one - the year after our son Beau died.” “But this year, we’ll be staying home.”
Daily deaths from the coronavirus in the US have gone past 2,100 for the first time since May as millions ignored travel guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health experts that Thanksgiving gatherings could be the “mother of all superspreader events”. On Tuesday, November 24, the daily death toll across the US went up to over 2,146 — the most number of deaths in a day since May 8. As many as nine states reported a record number of deaths. The country also saw 172,935 new cases of coronavirus the same day and the number of infections has been consistently above 100,000 every day for the last three weeks. Johns Hopkins University has informed about the alarming data.
Biden, who has been seen taking full protection in the pre-election time with social isolation and wearing of masks (sometimes even two), will be staying at his second home on the Thanksgiving holiday — the residence at Rehoboth Beach. He left for the destination soon after concluding his Thanksgiving speech. He will be accompanied on the holiday in Delaware by his wife Jill Biden, daughter Ashley and son-in-law Howard Krien.