Presidential inauguration will be more like virtual convention says Biden

The presidential inauguration on January 20 and the festivities surrounding it would look more like a virtual convention, President-elect Joe Biden has said, attributing the scaling down of the event that attracts millions of people to the US Capitol to the coronavirus pandemic. Biden was asked about inauguration planning during a news conference on Friday in Wilmington, Delaware. He suggested that the festivities could end up looking like the largely virtual convention Democrats held in August, with online activity in the states.

“We are in discussion with the House leadership and the Senate leadership as to what they plan for the inauguration, particularly those 200,000 spots they control. But I think you're going to see something that's closer to what the convention was like than typical inauguration,” Biden said.

The 78-year-old former vice president said that his first and foremost objective is to keep people safe but still allow them to celebrate, to celebrate and see one another celebrating. “So, we're in consultation. My team is in consultation with folks who help us put on the convention, as well as with our colleagues, Republican and Democratic colleagues, in charge of the inauguration,” he said.

“My guess is there probably will not be a gigantic inaugural parade on now Pennsylvania Avenue, but my guess is you'll see a lot of virtual activity in states all across America engaging even more people than before. That's in train now and I'm not in a position to give you an example of exactly what it will look like,” he said.

“But, I promise you, it'll be available either virtually or in person for many and my guess is, there will still be a platform ceremony, but I don't know exactly how it's all going to work out. The key is keeping people safe,” he said.

Asserting that he can't do a super version of the president's announcement in the Rose Garden nationwide, he said so it's going to have to be more imaginative. “But, the convention we put on really opened up avenues that we never thought existed and I doubt there will be another at least the Democratic Convention, that it's straight like it always has been,” he said. The swearing-in ceremony and a lunch for the new president and vice president are held at the Capitol.