Skip to main content

Nationwide Covid memorial announced as part of Biden inauguration


The Presidential Inaugural Committee announced Thursday that it would host a nationwide memorial honoring those who have died from the coronavirus the day before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office.

The committee said that cities and towns around the country will be invited to light up their buildings and ring church bells at 5:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 19 in a "national moment of unity and remembrance." A ceremony will also be held at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington.

"The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris represents the beginning of a new national journey," Pili Tobar, a spokesperson for the inaugural committee, said.

"However, in the midst of a pandemic — when so many Americans are grieving the loss of family, friends and neighbors — it is important that we honor those who have died, reflect on what has been one of the more challenging periods in the nation's history, and renew our commitment to coming together to end the pandemic and rebuild our nation."

The memorial will offer a stark contrast to President Donald Trump's leadership during the pandemic. Trump was frequently criticized for lacking empathy during the Covid-19 crisis, failing to meet with families who lost loved ones or survivors of Covid-19, as presidents often do during a time of national crisis.

More than 340,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus and more than 19.6 million have been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Biden says K-12 education isn't working — calls for free pre-K to "grade 14"

President Joe Biden on Wednesday praised the nation's K-12 education system for fueling America's economic growth for almost a century. But, he stressed, that system may no longer be sufficient as the foundation for future prosperity. Mr. Biden's American Families Plan is taking aim at an issue that has bedeviled economists as well as millions of families struggling to stay afloat financially: A high school diploma is no longer enough to secure a middle-class life. Under the White House proposal, the nation's K-12 system would be expanded on both ends — from free pre-kindergarten education through a "grade 14," funding two years of schooling before kindergarten and two years of post-high school education through free community college. There's plenty of economic research that links rising high school graduation rates throughout the 20th century to faster U.S. economic growth. For example, broadening education help women enter the workforce and enabled men ...
Post a Comment
Read more

New climate envoy John Kerry sold off energy holdings to avoid conflict of interest, disclosures show

Financial disclosures released by former Secretary of State John Kerry indicate that until March of this year he held hundreds of thousands of dollars of investments in energy-related companies that may end up being affected by policies he'll help shape as President Joe Biden's new climate envoy. An ABC News analysis of his assets show that in recent years, Kerry held stakes in at least three dozen companies related to the energy industry, including firms dealing in electric, oil and gas, and nuclear energy, with shares worth between $204,000 and $960,000. Kerry had also recently held high-ranking positions within firms and entities that could end up being regulated by his climate action policies, filings show. A certificate of divestiture issued by the Office of Government Ethics on March 8 shows Kerry's plan to divest from companies that could pose a conflict of interest for his new role as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, a common measure that newly appointed...
Post a Comment
Read more

Column: The Tucker Carlson mystery — how does his show survive without major advertisers?

It used to be that the economics of television were pretty straightforward: broadcasters sold advertising to sponsors, who were willing to pay more to hawk their wares on the highest-rated programs. The biggest shows and stars attracted the classiest advertisers — luxury car makers, popular consumer products, brokerages and banks. Things have obviously changed radically, or how else could one explain the phenomenon of Tucker Carlson? We have a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor, they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer, and dirtier, and more divided. Tucker Carlson, 2018 Advertisement Carlson is the undisputed star of Fox News Channel. In the April Nielsen ratings he trounced all other cable news programming, with an average audience of more than 3 million viewers. His Tucker Carlson Tonight also finished first in the sought-after 25-54 age segment, averaging 523,000 viewers. Yet the advertising lineup of Carlson’s show displays virtually no class at all. Judging f...
Post a Comment
Read more