The NPR Politics Podcast - Joseph Biden Sworn In As 46th President Of The United States

Episode Date: January 20, 2021

In his inaugural address, he promised to keep all of his work as president in service of people rather than power. And Kamala Harris made history; she is the first Black person, Asian American, and woman to serve as Vice President of the United States.This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, White House correspondent Scott Detrow, and political reporter Juana Summers.Connect:Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here.Email the show at [e-mail] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Listen to our playlist The NPR Politics Daily Workout.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.Find and support your local public radio station.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., do solemnly swear I, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States the office of President of the United States and will, to the best of my ability

and will, to the best of my ability. Will, to the best of my ability. Preserve, protect, and defend. Preserve, protect, and defend. The Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States. So help you God. So help me God. Congratulations, Mr. President.

Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Franco Ordonez. I also cover the White House. I'm Scott Detrow Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Franco Ordonez. I also cover the White House. I'm Scott Detrow. I also also cover the White House. And I'm Juana Summers. I cover demographics and culture. The time now is 2.14 p.m. on Wednesday, January 20th, Inauguration Day. Joseph R. Biden has been sworn in as the 46th president of the United States of America. Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president.

She is the first woman, the first black person, the first Asian American to serve in the role. Scott, I want to start with you because you are on the west front of the Capitol still and were there for the ceremony and all morning. What was it like? You know, the way I've been thinking about it is the day started as surreal and strange, and the closer we got until noon, the closer it got to normal. And let me explain what I mean by that. I walked in through multiple security barriers. There was barbed wire through the fences surrounding the Capitol. I'm looking down in the mall. There's nobody on the mall. In between the mall and here, there are National Guard soldiers guarding this building.

It was strange. And then you get to the platform. The chairs are socially distanced. There's nowhere near the amount of people who would normally be here. And the chairs are in groups of one or two, like we've gotten used to seeing. And it just felt strange. And looking at the platform, I couldn't help but thinking of the images of a mob swarming this platform just two weeks ago. So that's how it felt most of the day. But as it got closer to the ceremony, the platform started filling in. You saw former presidents. You saw Biden and Harris's family.

You saw leaders of Congress, members of the Senate. And then it just felt like, okay, this is the ceremony that we all had so many concerns it would even happen. How it would happen. Would it be safe? It's going forward. This is going forward. And from the time the ceremony started forward, it kind of felt like every other inauguration, except for the fact, and we'll get to this later, the sense of resilience that this mob, this attack on democracy did not stop this transfer of power

from taking place. In the end, it was just so normal. And and in a way that felt weird, given everything that the country has been through in the last couple of weeks, couple of years. Let's hear a bit of what Biden had to say. celebrate the triumph, not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy. The people, the will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded. We've learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed. Juana, how would you describe his message? Yeah, so we heard him acknowledge pretty forthrightly the fact that our system was tested by a defeated president, which led to the violence that we saw several weeks ago

at the Capitol. But you also heard very clearly an understanding from President Biden that he assumes the presidency in a moment where the nation is not facing one crisis, but several. that so many people feel acutely in this country, as well as the scourge of racism that we have seen this nation grapple with very painfully, frankly, for the past year or so. That again, two weeks ago, he called people to come together and he seemed to signal that his presidency could perhaps open the door for a new type of politics, a type of politics that perhaps is not as divisive as we saw in the past four years under his predecessor, President Trump. Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war.

And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured. Talking about facts, defending facts, you know, that is a little bit of a nod to his predecessor. But there was no explicit mention of President Trump. And there was, Scott, a focus on the pandemic, on the most pressing right this second in your face. Every 26 seconds, another American is dying from COVID. Yeah, and Biden was pretty straightforward about it. He called on everybody to just take a moment to acknowledge the massive loss that has happened. And he asked everybody to do that in the way of a prayer. And my first act as president, I'd like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer. Remember all those who we lost in this past year to the

pandemic, those 400,000 fellow Americans, moms, dads, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. We'll honor them by becoming the people and the nation we know we can and should be. So I ask you, let's say a silent prayer for those who've lost their lives and those left behind and for our country. Amen. And words like that, sentiments like that are so straightforward and relatively simple,

but we haven't heard them over the course of this year. And yesterday I was traveling with Biden as he made his way from Delaware to Washington, and his first stop was at the Lincoln Memorial. And he and Harris led a very short, quiet, reflective ceremony in front of the reflecting pool where they talked about this loss. They asked the whole country to pray and to heal and to mourn as one. And then they lit lights that went down all along the reflecting pool, 400 lights for the 400,000 people who have died. And it's just a night and day tone from the past year and the way that the

White House had talked about this up until today. There have been so many grim milestones that have been missed. And Biden and Harris wanted to pause on this one. Franco, I give you my word. I will always level with you. I will defend the Constitution. I'll defend our democracy. I'll defend America. I will give all, all of you, keep everything I do in your service, thinking not of power but of possibilities, not of power, but of possibilities,

not of personal interest, but the public good. And together we shall write an American story of hope, not fear, of unity, not division, of light, not darkness. You know, it's interesting, you know, he talked a lot about there being truths and there being lies and lies told for power and for profit. And as you, Tam, noted earlier, it seemed like one of those know, with this unifying message saying people need to come back together. He talked about ending this unci the biggest long term is trying to, you know, connect this divided America. And I think this idea of truth and being truthful, as he said in the campaign, is kind of central to that and wanting to, you know, set apart from President Trump and kind of chart his own course there. Yeah, the other thing that stood out to me is, as he talks about the sacred oath, there is something about the inauguration and those of us who've witnessed several of them now, there's something sacramental or like you're going to church, like there are the routines, there's the oath, there's the oath taken by the vice president. There's the national anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance. There are motions that that you go through that are part of this ritual of American

democracy. And and it happened. It happened today at the Capitol. I, you know, I just say no doubt. I mean, like, you know, President Trump came in promising to upend Washington. He did that. And he did it so much that it really disrupted many American lives and really put a lot of Americans on edge. And now President Biden is clearly coming back with this, you know, bring America back message, build America back message. And I think this was part of that and making sure trying to restore many of, you know, American institutions, as well as, you know, key traditions that we saw today. And I think overhanging over the entire ceremony. And I like the way you framed it, Tam, and I think that's true, and I think it was even more true today, because the officials on that stage, the lawmakers on

that stage, the new administration on that stage saw that this building was under attack, that people tried to stop the certification of the presidential election and stop this from happening. And there was a feeling of, you know what, it's happening anyway. And I think the thing that really brought that home to me more than anything else was when lady gaga was singing the national anthem which was i think i mean i was in the moment i don't know if i'm prejudiced but i think you put that in the whitney houston marvin gaye national anthem hall of fame that was amazing but she with that golden microphone she turned and looked very clearly at the u.s capital when she to, and our flag was still there.

And it was a clear message that this building is still standing. The transfer of power is still standing. The federal government is still standing. And you could tell everyone here was really moved by that. I was still there. Another moving thing, and I want to talk to you about this, Juana, is Kamala Harris didn't say anything other than the oath of office, but she made history just being there. This was a significant moment. Yeah, you know, it's hard to go through the list of all of the ways in which she has made history. She is the first female vice president of this country,

the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to hold this position. And she was sworn in in front of the Capitol by Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor. There was just so much history there, even down to the clothes she selected, which were from, we were told, two young emerging Black designers. Everything was perfectly executed to point out the history that she has made. And I think, you know, to some of the points that Scott's making here, in any context, this would have been a barrier-breaking, glass-shattering vice presidency. But I think that this year in particular, it's so meaningful because it's coming at a moment when Americans have grappled over institutional racism. And at a moment when this country is collectively confronting this pandemic, which has disproportionately devastated Black and brown communities in this country. She just really brings this very rich intersectional story to the vice presidency. And I think that one of the things I'm going to be

watching over the course of the next four years is something that she talks about a lot when she quotes her mother. She talks about how her mother always told her, while she may be the first to do a lot of things, she has to ensure that she won't be the last. So I am curious to see how Vice President Harris acts as a leader to perhaps a new generation of women of color who are leaders now that she has ascended to this job that at times people I've talked to said they never knew if they'd see someone who looked like her, someone who looked like them take that position in their lifetime. Yeah. And some of these themes, I think, came through in the poetry of Amanda Gorman, who is 22 years old.

She delivered a poem at the inauguration. There was Lady Gaga. There was Jennifer Lopez. There was Garth Brooks. But arguably, Amanda Gorman stole the show. We will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one. We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the West. We will rise from the windswept Northeast, where our forefathers first realized revolution.

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states. We will rise from the sun-baked South. We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover. In every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful. When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it. All right, we are going to take a quick break. And when we get back, President Trump's exit and more about President Biden's first day. If what's going on in America has you on edge, check out No Compromise.

It's NPR's podcast about fringe groups on social media shaping the real world. And see what the others like to do is say, well, y'all are terrorists. No, you're the ones initiating the violence. We're just going to stop you. That's it. Are you concerned that we're close to that? Yes. I think it's a call to action for people to use violence. How'd we get here? What's next? Listen to No Compromise wherever you get your podcasts.

And we're back. And former President Trump is now a resident of Florida. He left Washington, D.C. this morning, but he did hold a goodbye ceremony for himself at Joint Base Andrews. I will always fight for you. I will be watching. I will be listening. And I will tell you that the future of this country has never been better. I wish the new administration great luck and great success. He never actually said Biden's name, and he suggested that if there is great success, it will be because of the foundation he laid. So Trump being Trump to the end. Franco, you were there at the White House

today when he boarded Marine One for the last time. What was he like? Yeah, it was interesting being there. I mean, just the White House today has been, you know, a different kind of place. You know, a lot of there's a lot of people, you know, the remaining staff, at least who are leaving this morning, there are several of them who are in tears, taking photos, saying their last goodbyes. And, you know, I think President Trump, as he came out, he had a little bit of a, you know, similar goodbye mood when he talked obviously, you know, and, you know, as he walked back, you know, a lot of people still wanted to know if, you know, as you mentioned, he did not mention Joe Biden. He still hasn't conceded the election. You know, there were a lot of questions that were called out to him that I called out to him asking him if if he had any regrets for what

happened, particularly over the last two months? Is he concerned about his legacy? And he moved on without, you know, without taking any of those kind of questions that I think a lot of people are still curious about. Yeah. And we should just say he did issue a lot of pardons and commutations, including, I guess, most notably to his former advisor, Steve Bannon. And he also repealed an ethics executive order that he had put in at the beginning of his presidency, meaning that instead of a five-year ban on lobbying, anyone serving in his administration can run right out and go get a lobbying job if they want to. I want to turn, because this is Joe Biden's day, this is President Biden's day, I want to turn because this is this is Joe Biden's day. This is President Biden's day. I want to turn to his agenda because he is hitting the ground running, as you say. Scott, what does his day look like? Two ceremonial things before he goes to the White House and starts signing these executive orders we're going to start talking about. He actually began the day with mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral here in Washington,

D.C., downtown Washington, D.C. It's gotten kind of lost in a lot of other things, but Biden is only the second Catholic president after John F. Kennedy. St. Matthew's is the place where Kennedy had his funeral. And Biden did something that would not really have been worth remarking on before the Trump era. And that's the fact that he invited not only Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, but Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy to attend mass with him, reaching out to top Republicans in Congress. And right now, as we're taping this podcast, he's over at Arlington National Cemetery, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And he's joined by Harris, but he's also joined by former presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. There is an important honoring veterans, honoring soldiers who were killed in war is part of that,

but I can't stop dwelling on the visual of Biden joined by these three presidents that former President Trump spent four years attacking and trying to undermine their legacies. And here's the four of them while Trump is in Florida, joining together and laying a wreath together at Arlington National Cemetery. Yeah, it's the fraternity of former presidents that President Trump never really embraced. And it's unclear that he will ever fit in with them or or want to kind of an Empire Strikes Back feel. Oh, you know, even on Inauguration Day.

OK, so let's talk about these executive actions, because there are going to be 17 of them signed today. Franco, you want to you want to start to start us off? Sure. He's got, as you know, a bunch of work that he wants to do. He wants to hit the ground running. Jen Psaki, the incoming press secretary, the new press secretary, excuse me, told some of us reporters last night that Joe Biden's going to quickly go to the Oval Office and start signing these things, and that he wants to build momentum on his plans to address, you know, these priorities that he have, COVID-19, the economy, racial justice, climate, you know, just on COVID, you know, among, you know, the many measures that he wants to do, he plans to, you know, order masks to be

worn on federal property, a mask mandate, which is so fascinating considering the politics and the divisiveness that surrounded masks over the last year, particularly with President Trump, you know, really kind of, you know, spurring those divisions and political issues around that. Biden also plans to revoke President Trump's travel ban affecting Muslim majority nations. And he also wants to, you know, kind of fortify DACA. That's the Obama era initiative that granted kind of legal protections for young immigrants who are brought to the country illegally. So he's got a lot of things on the plate and he's got many more, which, you know, I know Scott and Juana will talk about. Yeah, just a few of things on the plate and he's got many more, which, you know, I know Scott and Juana will talk about.

Yeah, just a few worth mentioning on the climate front. To the surprise of no one who paid attention to the presidential campaign, he is rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, the big international climate accord for countries to lower their carbon emissions. President Trump took the U.S. out. Biden's putting the U.S. right back in. He's also repealing the presidential approval for the Keystone XL pipeline. And he is beginning the process of revoking 100 different Trump era environmental rules. That's something that's going to take a while. And I had talked to Gina McCarthy about this before she was named his domestic climate czar. She said, you know, she ran the EPA for four years and she said, look, it's just going to take a lot of time to undo a lot of the Trump era regulations that loosened all sorts of regulations on

all different types of pollution. Everything from auto emissions to dishwasher efficiency. There's a lot on that list. And there's also going to be actions related to racial justice, right? Yeah. So one of the things that I found particularly interesting in this list is that President Biden has included an executive order that will terminate the Trump admissions 1776 commission, which is, of course, aimed to push a more conservative history curriculum in the United States schools as one of the ways in which he has promised to root out systemic racism from all parts of the government. But one of the things that I've been following really closely is how the Biden administration will respond to the demands of progressives. When I talk to progressive

activists, you know, they make the point that they showed up in big force, particularly young progressives, to elect this president and that, frankly, they expect to see some attention paid to the things they want. One of the big things that progressives had been pushing for was some action on student loan debt. A number of progressive activists asked the Biden team to issue an executive order forgiving student loan debt. They did not do that. Instead, he is asking the Department of Education to extend the pause on student loan payments for federal loans and interest through the end of September. And the other thing that I noticed did not come here that he faces quite a bit of pressure from progressive lawmakers on is not including any sort of executive order to address the federal death

penalty. That is, of course, after so much outcry when the Trump administration ended a 17-year pause, for lack of a better word, on federal executions. We saw those even happening in the closing days of President Trump's term. So far, no action from the Biden administration on that, at least in this first day. Yeah. And Biden's team has said this is just the first few days. Keep watching. There will be more to come. And I have to say that in the early days of the Trump administration, there were also a lot of executive orders to try to overturn things that President Obama had done in his time in office. And and now we're back again with Biden looking to reverse things done during Trump's term. And certainly there are going to be people, Republicans,

Trump supporters, we've already heard from at least one Republican senator saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, these executive actions don't really jibe with their idea of unity or bipartisanship. Yeah, I think that's going to be an issue going forward. I've talked with Biden officials on this issue regarding immigration, for example. Just one example that, you know, that you're kind of referring to DACA being an executive action that President Obama took. President Trump, you know, spent much of his four years trying to get rid of DACA. And there's a lot of calls now to do to expand DACA. But there's actually a court case that is threatening DACA very seriously that could, you know, make it go away entirely.

And some people inside the Biden administration and across on both sides say this is why there needs to be more action from Congress to take up these issues. But obviously, as anyone who's been in Washington more than just a few days recognizes how difficult it is to get the Republicans and Democrats to agree on anything. And we still have, despite Democrats having slim majorities in both chambers, it's still going to be on anything. And we still have, despite Democrats having slim majorities in both chambers, it's still going to be really tough. All right. Well, we will be back tomorrow. Until then, you can follow

our online analysis by subscribing to the NPR Politics newsletter at npr.org slash politics newsletter. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Scott Detrow. I also cover the White House. I'm Franco Scott Detrow. I also cover the White House. I'm Franco Ordonez. I also cover the White House.

And I'm Juana Summers. I cover demographics and culture. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm going to go collapse. Yeah, seriously. I'm just going to keep drinking coffee. Good job, Scott. It's our third president of the podcast. Yay. Oh, wow. I'm just going to keep drinking coffee. Good job, Scott. It's our third president of the podcast. Yay. Oh, wow.

That's big.