Joe Biden will be sworn in in a militarized, public-free inauguration

Donald Trump’s inauguration four years ago was followed by controversy over the administration’s first falsity. His then-spokesman, Sean Spicer, argued that it had been the inaugural event with the largest audience in history – “I punt”, he wanted to close the issue. A lie that former Trump adviser Kellyane Conway defended as the expression of “alternative facts.”

Joe Biden’s on January 20, 2021 will possibly be the least crowded of those held in Washington. Not only because the number of guests at the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol grounds will be limited by the protocols against covid-19, but also because this Thursday it was announced that the entire National Mall, the immense monumental space that going from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol, passing through the obelisk dedicated to Washington, will be closed to the public. Only congressmen and guests will be able to hear in situ as Lady Gaga performs the national anthem.

Biden will take office in a militarized and closed city. The country’s capital is in a state of alarm over the threat of attacks by armed militias between the weekend and the 20th, when the Democrat begins his term. More than 20,000 national guards are called in to ensure the safety of the incoming president, more than double those deployed four years ago. Airbnb has canceled all accommodation bookings that had been managed through its website for Washington and the surrounding area. Several metro stations in the center will be canceled.

The American capital will be a military fort, with the Capitol and the White House isolated from the citizens who embody the “ We the people” [Nosaltres, el poble] with which the Constitution is opened. With the hangover of approval in the House of Representatives of the second impeachment against Donald Trump, downtown Washington appeared empty Thursday of pedestrians and cars, with the main streets cut off and some of its most iconic buildings surrounded by fences. For example, the Trump Hotel, strategically located between the White House and the Capitol. The latter is protected by a visible deployment of armed soldiers of the National Guard. With no threats in sight, some of them made circles to talk and kill time. A group of teenagers used the unusual setting as a backdrop for a group photo.

Impeachment unknowns

It will not serve to remove him from office, but l ’impeachment will move forward even if Donald Trump is no longer the president. An unprecedented situation that is now in the hands of the Senate, which has yet to receive the indictment approved on Wednesday by the House of Representatives. A necessary step for the upper house to assume its role as a jury. According to the AP, the political trial could begin even an hour after Biden took office. But in less than a week, there are more doubts than certainties. Among the first is whether the president of the Supreme Court, Judge John Roberts, will preside over the process as set out in the Constitution. The nuance is that this gives him the role when it comes to the trial of a president, and Trump will no longer be at that time.

The outgoing president will face a second impeachment, an unprecedented fact in history, accused of “inciting the insurrection” for its role in the assault on Congress on January 6. An attack that some Democratic congressmen suspect may have had the complicity of a few of his Republican colleagues. That’s why a group of Democratic lawmakers have sent a letter to Capitol security officials to open an investigation into what they define as “suspicious behavior.” Republican congressmen acted as hosts for several visits to Congress the day before the assault. It is suspected that they could have been of “recognition”. Among the guests were people who “appear to be associated with the Trump rally,” according to the letter. From March the building can only be visited at the invitation of a member of Congress.

Overcome the fright of the attack, the fear has not disappeared. One of ten Republicans who voted in favor of the impeachment, Peter Meijer, confessed this Thursday to MSNBC that he is changing his routines and will use a bulletproof vest. “Our expectation is that someone can try to kill us,” he said.