Harris out with Biden for first time since loss

US President Joe Biden laid a wreath at a ceremony that marked his first appearance with Kamala Harris since her election defeat.

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at a wreath-laying ceremony at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Picture: AFP

President Joe Biden told US veterans overnight on Monday that serving as commander-in-chief had been the “greatest honour” of his life as he laid a wreath at a ceremony that marked his first appearance with Kamala Harris since her election defeat.

The event, at Arlington National Cemetery, was also the first time Vice-President Harris has been seen in public since her November 6 speech in which she conceded the presidential election to Donald Trump.

Democrats, facing a painful reckoning over their drubbing, have begun soul-searching internal discussions – and some not-so-private blaming – over what caused Ms Harris’s loss, with some pointing to Mr Biden’s initial insistence on running again at age 81, despite having promised to be a bridge president to the next ­generation.

Criticism of Ms Harris has been more muted, and Mr Biden heaped praise on her last Thursday in a televised White House address.

Earlier on Monday Mr Biden hosted veterans at the White House to mark the holiday before heading to Arlington, the final resting place of two presidents, five-star generals, and some 400,000 veterans of major US conflicts, dating back to the Revolutionary War.

At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Mr Biden and Ms Harris placed their hands on their hearts before participating in a wreath laying.

“This is the last time I will stand here at Arlington as commander-in-chief,” the president said in an address. “It’s been the greatest honour of my life to lead you, to serve you, to care for you, to defend you – just as you defended us, generation after generation after generation.”

Mr Biden spoke of his visits to veterans cemeteries in Europe, adding he would never forget “standing in the cliffs of Normandy, 80 years after D-Day, to honour the service members and veterans who literally saved the world.” Afterwards as “God Bless America” played, Mr Biden dabbed both eyes with a handkerchief.

The ceremony came shortly before Mr Biden hosts Mr Trump at the White House on Wednesday. Mr Trump has long claimed he is a fierce supporter of America’s military, but he has made a series of controversial comments about veterans.

His longest-serving White House chief of staff, retired general John Kelly, has said the Republican leader privately disparaged US service members, including describing those who died or were imprisoned defending America as “suckers” and “losers”. Mr Trump denies this.

But the soon-to-be 47th president has been on record expressing contempt for late US war hero and senator John McCain.

Mr Trump posted a picture of himself saluting before the American flag on social media on ­Monday

AFP