‘Not gigantic’: Joe Biden predicts inauguration day will be scaled down

Massive public ceremonies usually mark the swearing in of the new US President, but Joe Biden predicts his inauguration will be far more subdued.

US President-elect Joe Biden says that he expects his January inauguration to be a scaled-down event with an emphasis on safety because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re going to follow the science and the recommendations of the experts on keeping people safe,” Mr Biden told reporters.

“So it’s highly unlikely there’ll be a million people on the mall,” he said.

“My guess is there will probably not be a gigantic inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.”

“My guess is there’ll still be a platform ceremony but I don’t know how it’s all going to work out,” he said.

US President-elect Joe Biden says that he expects his January inauguration to be a scaled-down event. Picture: AFP

Recent presidents have been sworn in at an outdoors ceremony at the US Capitol attended by their predecessor but President Donald Trump has declined to commit to attending the event and continues to refuse to concede the election.

Mr Biden, 78, is to be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, 2021.

The President-elect said he expects the inauguration to be “something that is closer to what the (Democratic) convention was like than the typical inauguration.”

The Democratic convention was mostly virtual because of the pandemic.

“My guess is you’ll see a lot of virtual activity in states all across America engaging even more people than before,” Mr Biden said.

“People want to celebrate,” he said.

“People want to be able to say we’ve passed the baton, we’re moving on, democracy is functioning.”

Mr Biden said he was certain about one thing.

“In my inaugural speech I’m going to ask people to commit for 100 days to wear a mask,” he said.

TRUMP RANTS AS BIDEN SAYS ‘STOP THE CHAOS’

Outgoing US President Donald Trump went on another social media rant on Friday (local time), again claiming the US election was “rigged” and imploring Republicans “get tough”.

Mr Trump, who lost the November 3 election to Joe Biden, has still refused to concede amid baseless claims of voter fraud and a string of legal failures.

On Thursday (local time), Mr Trump was handed another damaging court defeat, as the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to hear his lawsuit attempting to overturn the loss to his Democrat rival.

It comes as Mr Biden said he is concerned at reports Mr Trump is considering pardoning his children and lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Mr Biden told CNN that possible pardons concern him because of the “kind of precedent it sets and how the rest of the world looks at us as a nation of laws and justice”.

Donald Trump will not give up on his claims that the US election was rigged. Picture: AFP

During his first joint TV interview with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Mr Biden also urged Mr Trump to attend his inauguration on January 20 to “to demonstrate at the end of this chaos that he’s created that there is peaceful transfer of power, with the competing parties, standing there, shaking hands, and moving on”.

Ms Harris also described how she will be a “full partner” to Mr Biden in the White House. “Since the first day he asked me to join him on the ticket, been very clear with me that he wants me to be the first and the last in the room. And so on every issue that impacts the American people I will be a full partner to the President-elect and the President, and whatever our priorities are I will be there to support him and support the American people,” Ms Harris said.

She also took aim at Mr Trump, saying “there couldn’t be a more extreme exercise in stark contrast between the current occupant of the White House, and the next occupant of the White House”.

Meanwhile, Dr Anthony Fauci said he accepted “on the spot” an offer from Mr Biden to be his chief medical adviser and warned Americans may continue to need to wear face masks beyond the 100 days the president-elect advocated.

Kamala Harris has said she will be a “full partner” to Joe Biden when the two take office in January. Picture: AFP

“I said yes right on the spot,” Dr Fauci said during an interview on US TV on Friday (local time). Dr Fauci also will remain the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Dr Fauci, who has often clashed with Mr Trump, also praised Mr Biden’s plan to ask Americans to wear face masks for 100 days but said it may need to go beyond that.

“It’s a good idea,” Dr Fauci said.

“He’s saying hey, folks, trust me, everybody for 100 days. Now it might be that after that we’re still going to need it but he just wants everybody for a commitment for 100 days. I told him I thought that was a good idea.”

TRUMP COULD SACK TOP AIDE

Meanwhile, the job of US Attorney-General Bill Barr is hanging by a thread after Mr Trump, refused to express confidence in his top law enforcement officer.

The US President paused dramatically when a journalist asked him to endorse Mr Barr, who said this week he had not seen evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the election result.

“Ahhhh … ask me that in a number of weeks from now,” Mr Trump said when asked if he still had confidence in Mr Barr.

“They should be looking at all of this fraud. This isn’t civil, this is criminal, he was looking at civil. This is bad criminal stuff. We went through an election, at 10pm everyone said this was an easy victory for Trump, all of a sudden the votes started miraculously disappearing but we have found many more votes than we need to win these states, every one of them.

“He (Barr) hasn’t done anything. He hasn’t looked. When he looks, he’ll see the kind of evidence that right now you are seeing in the Georgia senate where they are having hearings and seeing tremendous volumes of … (fraud).

“They haven’t looked very hard which is very disappointing to be honest with you. Because it’s massive fraud. This is probably the most fraudulent election we have ever seen.”

US Attorney-General Bill Barr. Picture: AFP

His comments came after The Sun reported that President Trump “might fire Bill Barr” after an “intense” White House meeting when the Attorney-General said there’s no evidence of voter fraud.

An administration official and two people familiar with the situation told NBC that the president has not ruled out the possibility of getting rid of Mr Barr.

According to the sources, a call to fire Barr would be made by President Trump.

However, the sources also said the possible firing is not expected to happen anytime soon, NBC News reported.

The report comes as Mr Barr had an “intense” meeting with Mr Trump on Wednesday.

Sources told ABC News in the US about the allegedly fiery exchange between the attorney general and Mr Trump – but didn’t reveal any more information on their meeting.

Mr Barr said this week that there have been no claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

He said: “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.

“There’s a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system as sort of a default fix-all, and people don’t like something they want the Department of Justice to come in and ‘investigate.’

“Most claims of fraud are very particularised to a particular set of circumstances or actors or conduct. They are not systemic allegations.

“And those have been run down; they are being run down. Some have been broad and potentially cover a few thousand votes. They have been followed up on.”

US President Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

Not surprisingly, Mr Barr’s comments are reported to have greatly irritated the president who insists the election was “stolen” from him.

His interview comes amid Mr Trump’s repeated claims that the election was stolen, and his refusal to concede his loss to Mr Biden.

Mr Barr has been one of the president’s most avid allies.

Before the election, he had repeatedly raised the notion that mail-in voter fraud could be especially vulnerable to fraud during the coronavirus pandemic as Americans feared going to polls and instead chose to vote by mail.

GOP PUSHES ON WITH SUMMIT FOR 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

Meanwhile, the Republican Party is going ahead with a special meeting next month to be attended by a number of potential presidential candidates for 2024, despite Mr Trump making it clear he is considering another tilt.

Ronna McDaniel, Mr Trump’s hand-picked head of the Republican National Committee,

is putting out the welcome mat even as Trump signals he may run again in 2024 – even while also saying he “won” the November election, which he calls “rigged”.

Mr Trump told party members at a White House Christmas party this week: “It’s been an amazing four years. We are trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I’ll see you in four years.”

Politico reported that among those set to attend the meeting are former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Vice President Mike Pence and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.

US President Donald Trump awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to retired football coach Lou Holtz. Picture: AFP

It’s not clear whether Mr Trump will take part in the meeting after he makes his first political outing since the election this weekend when he campaigns in Georgia for Republican senate candidates.

A long list of Republicans are getting invited to the gab-fest, which could be an organising opportunity for any candidates who might be preparing for Trump to drop out or back away, or even try to challenge him.

They include Haley, the former South Carolina governor, Pence, who has campaigned loyally for Trump and defended his handling of the coronavirus, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Mr Trump’s children, Ivanka and Donald Jr, are also thought to be considering seeking the nomination if their father doesn’t run.

- with AFP