(Washington) For his first Christmas at the White House, Joe Biden on Saturday praised the “immense courage” of Americans in the face of the pandemic in particular, and called on them to seek “light” and unity in hardship.
“This year we have seen the immense courage, strength, resilience and determination of all of you who care for, comfort, teach, protect and serve the country in large or small ways,” wrote the US President in a message. also signed by his wife Jill Biden, on the occasion of the Christian feast.
“You demonstrate, again and again, that our differences are precious and our similarities infinite,” said the Democrat, at the head of a country deeply divided on a multitude of subjects.
“We pray for the promise of the gospel, that of finding light in the dark, which is perhaps the most American endeavor there is,” the message from devout Catholic Joe Biden reads again.
Joe Biden and Jill Biden, along with their new four-legged companion, a German Shepherd puppy with the martial name Commander, also participated in a virtual interview with the military.
PHOTO SAUL LOEB, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden with their dog
“As Commander-in-Chief, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, thank you, thank you. That’s little compensation for what you miss, ”namely spending the Holidays with family, said Joe Biden, facing screens showing soldiers in Qatar and Bahrain, Romania and Colorado.
“You are the steel backbone of this nation,” the president said, recalling that his son Beau, who died in 2015, had been deployed to Iraq, while Jill Biden spoke of his father, who served in the Navy. during WWII.
The presidential couple, faced with an America weary of the pandemic and frustrated by a surge in inflation, put particular emphasis this year on end-of-year traditions, whether it is pardoning a turkey for the ‘Thanksgiving or to cover the White House with decorations.
PHOTO SUSAN WALSH, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
But Joe Biden was nonetheless caught up on Friday by the particularly sour political climate in the United States.
In a playful telephone conversation with a family about Santa Claus, a caller called out “Let’s go Brandon”, a code phrase popular with supporters of former President Donald Trump, which actually means “Fuck Joe Biden. (“Biden, go fuck yourself …”).