President-elect Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield is confident holding the inauguration at the U.S. Capitol will send a message of hope to Americans.
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked Bedingfield during an appearance on “This Week” if she is certain the ceremony will still take place on the West front of the Capitol after Trump supporters stormed the location on Jan. 6.
“That is certainly our plan. I think that will send an incredibly important visual image to the world about the resilience of American democracy, and so our plan and our expectation is that President-elect Biden will put his hand on the Bible with his family on the West side of the Capitol on the 20th,” Bedingfield said.
She added, “We’re working to ensure that we’ll be prepared, but we have full faith in the United States Secret Service and their partners who have been working for over a year on the planning to ensure that this event is safe.”
Check out the video below:
Kate Bedington tells @gstephanopoulos the plan is for Pres.-elect Biden's inauguration to take place on the West Front of the Capitol: "I think that will send an incredibly important visual image to the world about the resilience of American democracy." https://t.co/cS3xUrq9BR pic.twitter.com/XZMYrMufcb
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 17, 2021
While he was delivering remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday, Biden was pressed on whether he feels safe about his inauguration, as IJR previously reported.
“Yes,” he replied.
Vice President Mike Pence vowed to ensure a peaceful transition of power and a safe inauguration, as IJR previously reported.
“We all lived through that day – January 6. And as the president made clear yesterday, we are committed to an orderly transition and to a safe inauguration. The American people deserve nothing less,” he said on Thursday.
The nation’s capital announced it will be closing the National Mall and other landmarks through at least Jan. 21.
The National Guard is prepared to deploy at least 20,000 troops for the swearing-in ceremony.
FBI Director Christopher Wray indicated the agency is seeing “an extensive amount of concerning online chatter” about potential future threats.
