Washington, January 9 (ANI): Moments after outgoing President Donald Trump announced that he would not be attending President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, the latter said that it was a “good thing” and was “one of the few things” they (Trump and Biden) have agreed on.
“It’s a good thing, him not showing up… (It is) one of the few things he and I have ever agreed on,” Biden told reporters on Friday (local time) in Wilmington, Delaware, at a news conference after he introduced Cabinet nominees as quoted by CNN.
“He exceeded even my worst notions about him. He’s been an embarrassment to the country, embarrassed us around the world. He’s not worthy to hold that office,” the President-elect said.
Biden said that he was glad that outgoing Vice President Mike Pence will attend his inauguration.
“He’s welcome. I think it’s important that as much as we can stick to what have been the historical precedents of how an administration changes should be maintained. And so Mike, the Vice President, is welcome to come. We’d be honored to have him there, and to move forward in the transition,” Biden said.
Democrats in the US House of Representatives are preparing articles of impeachment, expected to be introduced as soon as Monday.
The President-elect did not weigh in on whether Congress should impeach Trump and remove him from office over his actions leading up to his supporters’ riot at the Capitol this week.
He said he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are focused on preparing their agenda to combat the coronavirus pandemic and bolster the economy.
Biden said that there’s no doubt that he wanted Trump, who he called “one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of the United States of America”, out of office as soon as possible and added that if the outgoing President had several months left in office, he would push for his impeachment.
“The quickest way that will happen is us being sworn in on the 20th (January). What action happens before or after that is a judgment for Congress to make… We’re going to be doing our job, and the Congress can decide how to proceed with theirs,” Biden said.
CNN further reported that Biden singled out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Utah Senator Mitt Romney, praising their actions on Wednesday as Congress counted electoral votes, taking the last procedural step of the 2020 election to affirm Biden’s victory ahead of his inauguration.
However, he said that those who tried to overturn the election results by objecting to some states’ electoral votes being counted “should be ashamed of themselves”.
When asked about whether senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri should resign, Biden said: “I think they should be just flat beaten the next time they run. I think the American public has a real, clear look at who they are. They’re part of the big lie.”
“The acolytes that follow (Trump), like Cruz and others — they’re as responsible as he is… There are decent people out there who actually believe these lies because they’ve heard it again and again,” he added.
Trump has said that he will not attend the inauguration. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take the oath of office from the Capitol’s West Front on January 20.
Trump’s tweet comes after chaotic and violent scenes erupted at the Capitol on Wednesday as supporters of Trump stormed the building to protest the Electoral College vote, forcing a lockdown and various confrontations with police. At least five people died in the melee.
Wednesday’s violence came hours after Trump encouraged his supporters to fight against the election results as Congress was certifying Biden’s victory in the November vote. The US Congress on Thursday certified 306 electoral college votes in favour of President-elect Biden, thus confirming enough votes to declare him the winner in the US election.
