CNN’s political director David Chalian said that the lights on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., are like “extensions of” President-elect “Joe Biden’s arms embracing America” during a segment Tuesday.
Chalian, who oversees the network’s political coverage, spoke during CNN’s coverage of Biden’s inauguration, which is to take place Wednesday afternoon. Ahead of the inauguration, 400 lights were lit up Tuesday alongside the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial to honor the 400,000 people within America who have died from COVID-19.
Biden and his wife, alongside Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, attended the memorial event.
“I mean, those lights that are just shooting out from the Lincoln Memorial along the reflecting pool, it’s like almost extensions of Joe Biden’s arms embracing America,” Chalian said. “It was a moment where the new president came to town and sort of convened the country in this moment of remembrance, outstretching his arms, and contrast that with that video you just saw of a disgraced president [Trump] on his way out at his lowest point in his presidency at the very end here, by himself, fighting for his political movement to live on.”
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“And not even necessarily promising that he’s going to be leading that movement, you noted in his remarks tonight,” he continued. “I just think that sort of isolated moment of Donald Trump inside the White House versus Joe Biden on the National Mall with an embrace of the country in this dark time on the eve of his becoming the 46th president. You couldn’t get a stronger contrast.”
The media has been giving Americans a taste of its coverage under a Biden presidency. In recent weeks, members of the press have pushed hard-hitting news about topics such as Biden’s pets, his “delightfully boring” administration and his socks. (RELATED: Here’s The Type Of Media Coverage You Can Expect For The Next 4 Years)
Biden has consistently pushed for unity since being declared winner of the 2020 election in November, and his inauguration theme is “America United.”