In a bleak speech to the nation, as the US surpassed half a million deaths from the coronavirus on Monday, Joe Biden urged the country to unite in the fight against the virus.
“I ask all Americans to remember who we lost and left behind. But as we all remember, I also ask us to act, to stay vigilant, to stay socially distant, to mask us, to get vaccinated when it’s your turn, ”the president said in his speech from the White House.
Biden used the speech to urge Americans to overcome bias and follow public health guidelines as his administration rushed to distribute vaccines and end the pandemic.
Biden has previously been criticized for being too cautious in setting targets for vaccine distribution, but the administration has said it has increased vaccination rates to 1.7 million per day and is on track to exceed its goal of delivering 100 million shots within the first 100 days after vaccination. administration.
However, the president’s speech on Monday was not about statistics. Instead, Biden focused on the loss Americans felt as a result of the pandemic and the larger theme of coming together – something Biden emphasized throughout his campaign.
“We must end the politics of misinformation that divides families, communities and the land; that has already taken too many lives, ”Biden continued in his speech. It’s not Democrats or Republicans dying from the virus. They are our fellow Americans, they are our neighbors. They are our friends, our mothers, our fathers, our daughters, husbands, wives. We must fight this together as one people, as the United States of America. That’s the only way we’re gonna beat this virus, I promise. “
Biden’s speech was booked with solemn rituals honoring the 500,000 dead. In anticipation of his speech, the National Cathedral ringed the bells 500 times; then the president joined First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff outside the White House, where they observed a moment of silence surrounded by 500 candles.
The Biden administration’s approach to dealing with the pandemic differs markedly from that of the Trump administration. Where Trump routinely questioned the seriousness of the virus, the Biden team has organized multiple events to acknowledge its seriousness, including a primetime address, a memorial ceremony, and a moment of silence. Biden and his team have stressed the importance of remembering how severe the pandemic is.
As a nation, we cannot accept such a cruel fate. While we’ve been fighting this pandemic for so long, we shouldn’t let the grief stun us, ”said Biden.
The US has recorded the worst death toll of any country in the world, but there are promising signs ahead. Hospital admissions have declined by more than 50% nationwide in the past month, and more than 13% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine as of Sunday.
Biden’s speech spoke to this optimism, saying that America and the world would overcome the pandemic.
“Let this not be a story of how far we fell, but how far we climbed up again. We can do this, ”Biden said.
This nation will smile again. This nation will have sunny days again. This nation will know joy again and as we do we will remember every person we lost, the lives they lived, the loved ones they left behind. We’ll get through this, I promise. “