Personally, I enjoy all of the updates on various recounts and failed legal challenges from the Trump campaign. Every update feels like we’ve won the election again! Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona have all slapped back at Trump’s attempts to undermine the election results and disenfranchise voters. Yes, it sucks that so many people are horrible and it sucks that Donald Trump and his fascist minions are undermining democracy, but… after the past four years, did anyone think it was going to be easy? So now Joe Biden and his team are making plans for the inauguration in the middle of a hard winter pandemic. Plans have not been nailed down, but it’s looking like most of the inaugural festivities will be virtual. President-Elect Biden’s camp is also assuming that Donald Trump will be too much of a pouty suckbaby loser to take part in a peaceful transfer of power.
Discussions are ongoing about requiring everyone to wear masks and stand at a social distance, according to interviews with a half dozen people involved in the planning. Those allowed near Biden for the inauguration ceremony will likely undergo coronavirus testing. The traditional post-swearing-in luncheon, held in Statuary Hall with members of Congress, could be scrapped altogether. There may not be any inaugural balls. Crowds, in all cases, will likely be severely limited.
Biden advisers are almost certain President Trump will not attend Biden’s swearing-in. They find it hard to imagine the traditional tea beforehand at the White House, the typical drive together to the Capitol, or Trump allowing any image of himself looking on as Biden is sworn into office.
Those close to Biden insist that the ceremony must still have the august feeling of past inaugurations — a desire that is all the more important to establish his legitimacy as president, which Trump is continuing to deny. But that quest is complicated by another urgent demand: to adhere to public health guidelines that Biden embraced throughout his run for the presidency and wants to showcase at the start of his administration.
Joan Hoff, professor of history at Montana State University and former president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency, said there are few parallels to the inauguration that will occur on Jan. 20, with a nation in crisis and a pandemic likely still raging.
“It’s just not going to look like past inaugurals. And I don’t think Biden’s going to cover that up,” she said. “I don’t think he’s going to try to sugarcoat what’s happening in the country as he’s inaugurated. That would simply be hiding or trying to sooth public opinion in a false way.”
But one of the most abnormal aspects may be Trump’s lack of participation. He would be the first defeated president not to attend the inauguration of his successor in centuries, Hoff said. “It’s like everything else with Trump: There’s no way he adheres to or honors tradition or norms, which are not rewritten down as law but which presidents of the past have followed,” she said. “I don’t think he’s temperamentally able to participate in a ceremony that clearly indicates he’s lost the election.” The White House declined to comment on whether Trump will attend.
“I don’t think he’s temperamentally able to participate in a ceremony that clearly indicates he’s lost the election.” Why is that quote making me laugh so hard? I guess because it’s true, but also… it’s just a funny way to think of it. The vibe is: Trump is a crybaby fascist loser, it is his nature and there’s nothing we can do about it but accept it and move on. Make plans without him. Transfer power as peacefully as possible when dealing with a pathetic unhinged tantrum-prone jackass.
WaPo also says that the Biden people know that people will come into Washington anyway for the inauguration so they’re trying to come up with ways to mandate mask-wearing and social distancing for the people who do want to come out. Yeah… basically, all of this is still in the air and Republicans are still walking on eggshells around the Orange Loser. Also: now I kind of want President Biden to take the oath of office in sweatpants.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
All I need to see is baby Trump leaving the White House and that’s enough for me. Just a live stream of him pouting on the way out with his shit being packed up and hauled away!
But really of course it will be smaller and scaled down and not a super spreader.
Lord, I would love to see that. Like, I would un-cord-cut and get cable again if that was my only way to see that.
But he’s such a pathetic, sucky baby I predict he’s going to go to Mar-a-Lago for the holidays and just not bother coming back.
I know people who are actually taking bets on that.
He will have vacated the premises before January, me thinks. He will pretend that it’s his choice and that he doesn’t want the White House anymore. He’ll say that the White House is ugly and stupid anyway and has a fat ass, so he moved out.
My prediction (and my hope): on Jan 20th at 12:01, Trump will be dragged out of the White House kicking and screaming. He won’t be able to tweet his rage via Twitter because the platform has already suspended his personal account and handed the presidential one to Biden.
The reality: it’s more than likely that he will be holed up in his Mari-lago bunker unable to tweet his rage because Twitter has suspended him. Meanwhile he throws cans of soup at his “yes” men while Ivanka slinks in the corner planning her escape to Argentina.
The country will then try to carry on and try to heal itself from four years of pain. I will also get the first good nights sleep that I’ve had in four years and I can finally go back to twittering about movies that I love and my cats.
He hasn’t really used the POTUS account, anyway. I’d like to believe that Twitter will suspend him, but I don’t. It’s really frustrating, but they clearly value toxicity that brings clicks and traffic to the platform.
But, here’s hoping. 🤞🏾
I really wanted Biden,s crowd size to be humongous to the nth degree so DJ would have a real breakdown
Even with the pandemic, I expect Biden will have a larger crowd than Trump did.
It’s a shame Biden won’t get to enjoy the pomp and circumstance of a traditional inauguration ceremony. But these are strange times.
Considering that he was at the Obama inauguration and with the country being so divided, maybe he won’t be bothered too much as it may be the safest option. There seem to be a lot of armed wackos about right know possibly willing to take a shot in the name of Trump. God forbid.
One of the best things about Biden, IMO, is that he’s not an egomaniac. He gets the reality of what we’re living through and won’t make the inauguration all about him. What a blessed relief.
I also feel for Biden missing out on all of the traditions and perks of presidential transition, just because this is something he strived for for so long and then gave up on and I want him to be able, after so much tragedy, to savor this victory. But Maida you’re exactly right — he’s not a raving egomaniac he’s truly a public servant. He ran this time out of a sense of duty and precisely because of the reality of what the country is going through. He isn’t going to hold a crowd hostage over his need for spectacle and I *profoundly* second your “What a blessed relief.”
Teddy Roosevelt didn’t get the pomp and circumstance the first time he was inaugurated either since he had to be sworn in right after McKinley’s assassination. And he’s one of the most memorable Presidents in U.S. history. (He also had personal tragedy like Biden, losing his first wife very young.).
LBJ was sworn in on Air Force One as it sat waiting take-off in Dallas, with about 2 dozen people in the un-air conditioned state room of the plane, including Jackie Kennedy, who was still wearing blood stained clothes, and JFK’s body in the cargo hold.
Notably, Judge Sarah Hughes is the only woman in US History to swear in a Us President.
My dream is that we get to watch the tantrum toddler get hauled out of our house. Other than that he doesn’t need to be there and I am fine if I never see him again!!!
The best comment I heard this weekend was ” dragging the loser out of the WH by his combover while kicking and screaming.” HA
Haha I love that quote too. Its a fancy way of saying “he’s a really sore loser.”
I’m bummed there probably wont be an inaugural balls because I would have loved to have seen Kamala in a really fancy gown celebrating her moment in history. But maybe next year they could host something big instead.
Omg. I have never focused much on inaugural balls but now that you mentioned it, I feel I really need to see Kamala celebrate this moment. As well as Doug, Joe and Jill. The Democrats did the convention so well and the drive in rallies so were fantastic, can’t they think of something?
I can’t imagine he’ll be there. He’s singularly ‘dispositioned’ lol. BUT. A part of me hopes he will be. He’s has a terrible poker face, and the loser memes will be epic.
Have you guys seen the cartoon where Biden and Obama are at the door of the White House going “knock knock” and from inside it says “who’s there” then Biden and Obama are laughing and pointing “not you!” The next frame is Trump pouting. Check it out. Tried to find a link but 🤷
I can’t wait for the Obama portrait reveal in the White House with Joe air hugging Barack and Michelle. Or for real hugging if they’ve got a vaccine going by then.
When Biden won, I vowed I was going to head into DC on Inauguration Day just so I could have the pleasure of screaming every obscenity I know at Trump’s helicopter as it departed for the last time.
And then I told myself to get real: Trump would never, ever give his many detractors the satisfaction of watching him leave DC. He’ll already be holed up and pouting in Mar-A-Lago. It’s not in his genetic makeup to show the Bidens the grace and class the Obamas showed to him and Melania.
Agree with second paragraph. Exactly what I wanted to say but you said it better.
I worry about the art and antiques in the White House. I hope the permanent employees of the WH are taking care to get that stuff out of his and his family’s reach before January 21. You just know their either gonna steal or damage some of it.
I highly doubt that they’d recognize the value of any art they stumble into, and given their *stellar* record of hiring people who know what they’re doing, I wouldn’t worry too much…
They stole antiques out of French Embassy.. my guess is anything gilded and gold will disappear.
That won’t stop Nagini from taking it. She thinks everything belongs to her.
@Chica1971 I believe what was taken from the embassy were actually fairly recent 20th (or 19th) century reproductions. They couldn’t even manage to steal genuine antiques. I doubt they’re able to determine the potential value of any art.
The day he was inaugurated, I turned to my SO and said, “When he’s getting ready to leave the White House, someone had better count the spoons.” Wasn’t there a story a few years ago about him ordering some antiques on spec from a Florida dealer, then refusing to pay for or return them? Seriously, I think there’s probably someone designated to make sure that tacky-ass band of thieves doesn’t stuff their suitcases with national treasures.
Jackie Kennedy already is likely is cursing the Trumps for how they have ruined the Rose Garden. If they leave it in a complete state of chaos for the Bidens with furniture and artwork missing, it’s an insult to her because the restoration of the White House was her legacy as first lady.
It’s a bit ironic given the extended Trump clan’s obsession with all things Kennedy. It’s really creepy that Ivanka’s kids are supposedly named after JFK and Jackie’s still born children.
That thought concerns me too.
I predict we will not see hide nor hair of him when he leaves. He will slip out under the guise of night, being the coward that he is.
He won’t participate but am sure he’ll try and pull a stunt on the day to take attention away from the real President. Plus i can see him trying to interfere with the ceremony taking place at the WH, he’ll try and stop it taking place there as he knows once he leaves he ain’t getting back in.
But I think a day before he will slink quietly away to Mar a lago and act like the tough guy from there,
He is currently sending out emails to sell tickets for his inauguration in the Rose Garden.
Thats hilarious – i guess there will be 2 inaugurations at noon on 20th Jan 2021. I wonder who will get the biglyest crowds.
@Digital Unicorn. Trump and his “inauguration” may get the biggest crowd but the real inauguration will get the better ratings because only his minions will keep attending his superspreader events then deny COVID-19 right up until intubation.
And I don’t see the Secret Service letting his invitees into the grounds on that day.
Thanks for this. Please give us more stories about Biden and Harris steadily moving up and on and fewer, way fewer, about the insane circus show. It might help if all outlets stopped giving them oxygen. We can only hope!
I actually think he’ll leave in the dead of night because he’s embarrassed, he doesn’t want anyone to see his big loserface. He has barely spoken since the election. He would never attend the inauguration.
Interested in the forum’s thoughts about what Melania will do. I could see her fleeing to Mar a Lago for New Year’s and just not coming back?
She likely will do that because they certainly won’t be welcomed back with open arms in NY. I think she’ll file for divorce while the orange loser tries to figure out how he’s going to evade jail time and bankruptcy. Then she’ll find herself some old, rich sugar-daddy and continue her lazy lifestyle.
I predict that she’ll have no problem finding another tacky, old rich man to live off of.
Divorce and she will take her child somewhere else and away from Trump. I don’t think she wanted to be flotus because she’s done everything with such a snarl on her face. She wants to do nothing, be a kept woman and raise her son.
She might be a miserable sod but you can tell she really cares for that boy. He needs some guidance and growth away from his awful half siblings.
Centuries, indeed. John Adams, a one term president, didn’t attend Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration either. Guess what else John Adams did: restricted freedoms of immigrants and widened powers to deport them, and made it a thing to imprison people who “weren’t nice” about him. Peas in a pod, these two.
Inauguration day is the day after my birthday. Literally all I want for my birthday is a split screen. One side showing Biden being sworn in and Trump being physically dragged out of the White House on the other. Seriously. All….I…..want! That would be the best birthday present ever!
They really should use Luminol whenever he does waddle out.
Considering Biden’s journey to the office of POTUS, I have this feeling his inauguration could be just immediate family and friends and he’ll feel like a gazillion bucks.
Everything has been politicized, especially crowd size because of Trump. And do not doubt that Trump will take every opportunity he can to belittle Biden if the crowd is limited, even though it is for precautionary measures. That is just who Trump is and will be to his dying breath.
We get the self-satisfaction of always knowing the truth. And the truth is Trump lost. He is a loser. A very sore loser. A history making loser. No amount of people standing in a group can change that fact. No amount of tweets and interviews and red hats will wipe the stain of his loss, nor remove the sting of his humiliation. And the fact that Trump does not hide his rage at losing makes the slow-moving train of Biden’s inevitable swearing in that much more delicious.
What you just said is perfection, Teebee. Perfection.
Yep, Joe would be happy with just his family by his side. That’s all he needs.
I think he should have a virtual open house at the White House once it’s been fumigated. Imagine how soothing to see President Biden, our new First Lady Dr. Biden, Vice President Harris, and First Husband Doug, plus family and his new cabinet, all together…wandering around the once-public areas of the White House, speaking to the camera about what they plan to do in this place, and overall, just making people see that peace has been restored to our White House. The good dogs, Champ and Major, can wander around peacefully in the background.
Bring us all in to the newly cleaned White House and show us that it’s ours once again. That would be healing and soothing.
Nagini is tweeting this morning about how the Trump administration will have vaccinated all of us and reached herd immunity on Covid19 by May. This is going to get nasty.
Ya…she and Mother’s Husband have been trying to take credit for the administration’s “partnership” with Pfizer and “tireless work” in supporting the development and distribution of a vaccine, despite Pfizer stating clearly they received no support whatsoever from the U.S. government beyond an agreement to buy an initial 100 million doses.
Hilarious. I work for one of the largest medical companies in the United States, and they just extended their WFH policy for non-essential workers until the end of the July 2021. The big name players know what’s coming.
Massachusetts just agreed with its unions that state workers who are currently on WFH status will continue as such through March 2021.
I’d be surprised if he returned to DC after spending Christmas and new year at Mar a lago. He’ll spend the 3 weeks becoming more and more unhinged and tweeting increasingly insane conspiracy theories.
Melania for sure won’t return. I’m sure she’s packed and checked out already…..
Has Melania even been seen in D.C. since the election? Not that that’s unusual for her – she’s the most absentee FLOTUS I’ve seen in my lifetime.
She and her parents allegedly live in Maryland closer to school.
We live just outside of DC and seriously thought about going to the inauguration. This would be our first living in the area to see, but ultimately we decided against it. Vaccine or no, it’s just not safe.
I always think how sucky it is that Biden’s not going to have all the pomp and circumstance of a full fledged inauguration. I have no doubt this will be done in a way that is safe for all the participants.
I lived in the middle of D.C. for Trump’s inauguration. Regardless of President, I think, it is a horrible experience. Helicopters circling for literally days, never ending sirens for days, and everything is blocked off. I was literally pulling my hair out by the end. The only reason my husband and I didn’t get out of town like everyone else is because he was on call for work. The only reason I’m sad I’ll miss this one is because I would have stood on the roof of my apartment building and given Trump the finger as he flees D.C. in the helicopter (I lovingly waved goodbye to the Obamas as they flew over in 2016).
FWIW, I lived in Northern VA for Obama’s second inauguration and it was a peaceful day off of work. You’ll be fine in the suburbs.
I do feel for Joe Biden, that he has to miss out on all the festivities of a grandiose inauguration and all the balls. He is finally elected President only to have to scale everything down due to a pandemic, which is the right thing to do. Also it would have been great to see all that with Kamala getting sworn in. Whatever he plans on doing, I’ll be sure to be watching. I initially wanted to go to DC for the inauguration and stay with friends after the initial joy of election results but I doubt that will happen with covid numbers getting so bad.
We all know Trump would have had a huge in-person inauguration which would have turned into a superspreader event and would have had mandated for things to go on as planned. I do wonder if he’ll stick around the White House until the inauguration, only to be forced out of the White House. While that would be so gratifying to see, I think he’ll head to Florida for the holidays with his tail between his legs and probably just stay there. And I don’t think any of us expected for Trump to attend Biden’s inauguration. Plus I doubt Biden or anybody wants him there. He knows he’s not welcome.
The party would have been huge, just huge. Partly because Biden won, partly because the evil clown is gone and partly because of good news about vaccines. A person could have seen the relief shimmering like heat waves on a hot day. It would have been such a noisy inauguration.
As long as we’re making predictions? I predict in the last hours of his term, he and his criminal family will secretly board Air Force One under cover of darkness. They’ll direct the pilots to fly from DC to a non-extradition country. The US can only hope the pilots of Air Force One are patriots who will take off, fly them to JFK or La Guardia, and hand them over to SDNY.
LOL. I wonder what his base would say or do if that happened? Or if he just split for another non-extradition treaty country? My guess is they would go out with a whimper.
there was actually an article about this a few years ago -I think it was in the Atlantic – called the final days of the trump presidency (I cant find it now, prob bc we are IN the final days) and it was about how it would end with a whimper – Trump would be on Air Force One trying to find a country that would take him, Ivanka and Jared move to Russia, etc
Or his murderous buddy MBS in Saudi could send one of their many private planes to whisk them away.
Ivanka and Jared will move to Israel. That’s my prediction.
I don’t even want him there anyway. Trump can slip out the back door and never be seen again as far as I’m concerned! He’s a disgrace.
+1.
Now see, I can imagine Orangino actually attending the inauguration and just as Biden is about to take the oath of office, the 🤡 bum rushes Biden to knock him out of the way while yelling “mine, mine, mine” like the angry toddler he is.
Don’t give him any ideas.
I just hope they manage to get Trump and all his contagious staffers out of the White House in time to deep clean everything these people touched or breathed on. I don’t want any of the incoming people exposed to pathogens or Giuliani’s brown gravy.
They should also probably get a priest and a shaman to do whatever it takes to exorcise the place as well.
I would actually enjoy a documentary about the behind the scenes steps taken to ready the White House for its new occupants. It would reassure me that the place was truly cleansed. I hope an inventory will also be taken. Trump’s taking of art from the French Ambassador’s residence in Paris was mortifying.
I believe I read that what Trump took from the French Ambassador’s residence turned out to be a copy of a Remington sculpture .
Totally fake of course.
Hell, if he showed up, I’d have him immediately tackled by Secret Service. I couldn’t trust him not to disrupt the ceremony and I honestly don’t trust that he or his minions wouldn’t physically harm the president.
I totally agree with Kaiser: Biden should wear sweatpants for the swearing-in, and Jill should be in yoga pants and an XXL sweatshirt with the name of one of her former employing schools emblazoned across it. They’re regular folks–just like us! My birthday is January 20, and the last four birthdays have been horrible, just because of how bad things have been. But not in 2021–I’m looking forward to having a great day by watching whatever inaugural activities happen and are televised. (And I’m with whomever it was who wanted to see The Donald dragged out of the White House kicking and screaming that day. I also want to see aMayflower moving van back up to the front door and all his crap carted out in used Amazon boxes and thrown into the back of the truck. Just for the sheer entertainment of it all.)
My birthday is Jan 19 girl! What a great couple of days that will be!
Trump hates losing but he also hates living there. He wants his gaudy gold toilet back. 100% He will be going to Mar a Lago for the holidays and never coming back.
KAISER, thank you so much for your way with words, particularly “pathetic unhinged tantrum-prone jackass”.
Why in god’s name would anyone want trump to be there anyway? I read somewhere that Jared and ivanka might attend, “representing” trump. If I were Biden, I’d tell them thanks, but no thanks. Just don’t send them an invitation – nobody can get onto the platform without an invitation.
The Inaugural ceremony would take place at the Capitol Building, not at the White House. I hope the Bidens refuse to move into the WH and refuse to have any of their personal possessions moved into it until it has been thoroughly cleaned and fumigated. And even then I’d give it a few weeks.
I thoroughly enjoyed the virtual Democratic Convention and would enjoy a Concert for America or something like that.
I am so, so happy that our country can now get back on track. And I love the fact that we will have a real president again.