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.
• Read also: In a tornado-ravaged Kentucky town, help each other for Christmas
• Read also: Exodus for the holidays in the United States despite the advance of Omicron
“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, accompanied by their new four-legged companion, a German Shepherd puppy with the martial name “Commander”, also participated in a virtual interview with the military.
“As Commander-in-Chief, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, thank you, thank you. It is little compensation for what you miss, “namely spending the holidays with the 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, have placed particular emphasis this year on year-end traditions, whether it’s pardoning a turkey for Thanksgiving or to cover the White House with decorations.
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 …”).