President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appeared together for the first time since Election Day at a Veterans Day ceremony on Monday.
Biden and Harris participated in a Presidential Armed Forces Full Honor Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at approximately 11 a.m. ET, according to the president’s public schedule. First lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff were also in attendance. Afterward, Biden delivered remarks at the National Veterans Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheater.
As Democrats pick up the pieces after President-elect Donald Trump’sdecisive victory, some of Harris’ backers are expressing frustration that Biden’s decision to continue his re-election campaign until the summer — despite long-standing concerns about his age, inflation and border security – all but sealed his party’s surrender of the White House.
“The biggest onus of this loss is on President Biden,” Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden in 2020 for the Democratic nomination and endorsed Harris’ unsuccessful run, said, according to The Associated Press. “If he had stepped down in January instead of July, we may be in a very different place.”
President Biden and Vice President Harris look on during a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“Maybe in 20 or 30 years, history will remember Biden for some of these achievements,” Thom Reilly, co-director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University, told the AP. “But in the shorter term, I don’t know he escapes the legacy of being the president who beat Donald Trump only to usher in another Donald Trump administration four years later.”
On Thursday, Biden delivered a short address in the White House Rose Garden regarding the election results.
President Biden lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as Vice President Harris, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough and Maj. Gen. Trevor Bredenkamp watch during the National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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“I know it’s a difficult time. You’re hurting. I hear you and I see you. But don’t forget, don’t forget all that we accomplished,” Biden said in the address attended by Cabinet members and top aides but not by Harris. “It’s been a historic presidency. Not because I’m president. Because what we’ve done, what you’ve done. A presidency for all Americans.”
Biden said he had congratulated Trump over the phone, and the two are expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss the presidential transition.
The president issued a statement shortly after Harris delivered her concession speech Wednesday, praising her for running an “historic campaign” under “extraordinary circumstances.”
President Biden, Vice President Harris, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough and Maj. Gen. Trevor Bredenkamp stand during a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Democrats got caught up in a wave of anti-incumbency in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that upturned governments in democracies around the globe irrespective of ideology. She did not directly respond to questions about criticism that Biden waited too long to bow out.
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“He believed he made the right decision,” Jean-Pierre said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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