WASHINGTON — A president-elect who campaigned on uniting America’s disparate political factions will now take office at a time when the country is recovering from an unprecedented bout of political violence, after an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday — encouraged by outgoing President Donald Trump — attempted to prevent a peaceful transfer of power to the incoming administration and shook members of both parties to their core.
Even amid an ongoing pandemic and economic downturn, Joe Biden’s most pressing challenge when he assumes power later this month may now be calming a rattled nation and assuring it that the unrest seen in Washington won’t continue under his watch.
“Through war and strife, America has endured much, and we will endure here and we will prevail again and will prevail now,” Biden said during a speech Wednesday from Wilmington, Delaware, in which he called the violence at the Capitol an act that “borders on sedition.”
