WASHINGTON: US President-elect Joseph Biden (pix) said ahead of his inauguration on Wednesday that America was waking up to “a new day.”
“It’s a new day in America,” Biden said via Twitter, reported Sputnik News Agency.
Biden is set to be sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday at around noon local time (17:00 GMT). Some 25,000 National Guard troops have been mobilised as part of enhanced security measures for the inauguration.
Meanwhile, the news agency reported that Biden attended Mass with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders in Washington on Wednesday, just hours ahead of his inauguration as the 46th president of the United States.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joined Biden for the ceremony at the St. Matthews Cathedral in the capital.
Outgoing US President Donald Trump has left Washington for his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Palm Beach, becoming the first president to skip his successor’s inauguration since 1879, when Andrew Johnson did not attend the ceremony for Ulysses S Grant. — Bernama
