A tiny taste of the 2021 Inauguration analysis chat:
"VIDEO: Full Analysis of the 2021 Inauguration of President Joe Biden "
Matt Flegenheimer National Politics Reporter
Maggie, it sounds like the presidency might be ending as it began: with a crowd that Trump would have preferred to be bigger.
7:49 AM ET
Maggie Haberman White House Correspondent
Matt, your capacity for understatement is intact over four years.
7:49 AM ET
Alan Rappeport Economic Policy Reporter
We can see on camera Marine One heading to the White House to pick up Trump and take him to Joint Base Andrews.
7:53 AM ET
Nicholas Fandos Congressional Correspondent
Hello and glad to be with you all. At the same time Trump is preparing to leave the White House, members of Congress and other dignitaries are starting to gather at the Capitol for the swearing in four hours from now. Security, after the Jan. 6 riot there, is off the charts.
7:56 AM ET
Carl Hulse Chief Washington correspondent
Good morning all. This is an unprecedented inaugural day in so many respects. Typically the incoming and outgoing president would be coming together at events at the White House and then at the Capitol to demonstrate the American way of government. But this is an entirely split screen day with President Trump departing on his own and Joe Biden moving into his place as president. None of us have ever seen anything like this before on Jan. 20.
7:59 AM ET
Peter Baker Chief White House Correspondent
Carl, how many inaugurations have you covered?
7:59 AM ET
Carl Hulse Chief Washington correspondent
This is my ninth! I was a child reporter for President George H.W. Bush’s inauguration in 1989. I will also admit to being at several good inaugural parties over the years. Those are among the things not happening in 2021.
8:00 AM ET
Katie Rogers White House Correspondent
Good morning everyone. The group of journalists whose job it is cover the movements of the president has just been told to assemble for his Marine One departure from the White House to Joint Base Andrews. We will shortly see if President Trump is in the mood to chat before he takes off. Any bets, Maggie?
8:01 AM ET
Peter Baker Chief White House Correspondent
Which was the most fun, Carl?
Or most memorable?
8:02 AM ET
Maggie Haberman White House Correspondent
Katie, he’s expected to give remarks. I don’t expect him to talk to the press.
But I could see him talking to reporters aboard his final Air Force One ride, the last time he will have a captive-by-job-title audience with the press.
8:04 AM ET
Peter Baker Chief White House Correspondent
Maggie, are you surprised the crowd is so sparse? What were Trump loyalists saying about seeing him off? Among those not there is Vice President Pence, is that right?
8:05 AM ET
Maggie Haberman White House Correspondent
Pence is not expected to be here, as we know. What’s been interesting so far is how many aides who normally fly on Marine One with the president are here already.
That includes Mark Meadows, the chief of staff, and Stephen Miller, the chief speechwriter.
8:05 AM ET
Alan Rappeport Economic Policy Reporter
Besides Trump’s lack of graciousness towards Biden, the breakup between Trump and Pence is striking - normally the president and vice-president would be together on their last moments in office.
8:05 AM ET
Nicholas Fandos Congressional Correspondent
Good point, Alan. Hard to even fathom that two weeks ago today Pence was locked down in the Capitol for hours as a mob of Trump loyalists stormed the building, some chanting “Hang Pence” because he refused to break with the law and overturn Trump’s loss. It’s been all ice since then.
8:05 AM ET
Katie Rogers White House Correspondent
I mean, that will probably do it.
8:05 AM ET
Carl Hulse Chief Washington correspondent
As far as most memorable, Peter, I think I have to go with Barack Obama’s first inaugural. The crowds were just amazing as seen from my perch at the Capitol. It was freezing but the mood was buoyant. As for most fun, Bill Clinton’s first inaugural had an incredible musical lineup.
8:05 AM ET
Maggie Haberman White House Correspondent
The president’s supporters have just been let into the pen that was set up.
8:06 AM ET
Jim Tankersley Economics and Tax Reporter
Good morning everyone. Like Carl, I’m struck by the contrasts this morning to past inaugurations. I covered Obama’s inauguration in 2009, and I slept in my office downtown to avoid the crush of revelers that overwhelmed D.C. and its transit systems that morning. Today, for Biden, Washington is a ghost town.
8:07 AM ET
Helene Cooper Pentagon Correspondent
Good Morning guys. Waiting for President Trump to depart on Marine One, I’m struck by how, right up until the very end, a president who has displayed little regard for the institutions of America – the Constitution, Congress, the electoral system, still, up to the very last minutes of his presidency, gets the respect and acknowledgement from America’s institutions – the military escort and departure. It’s quite a spectacle to see.
8:07 AM ET
Carl Hulse Chief Washington correspondent
Yes Jim you are right. Typically on inaugural mornings thousands of people move quietly through my Capitol Hill neighborhood before the sun comes up to get to the inaugural. It is always a spectacle. This morning the streets are deserted. It is very strange.
8:08 AM ET
Katie Glueck National Politics Reporter
Excited to join you all! This is a day Joseph R. Biden Jr. has been thinking about on and off for at least 50 years – though he can’t have imagined it would look quite like this.
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