By Amara Blessing Nwosu
It was a frigid cold day all over the United States. That piercing breeze led to the decision to take the inauguration of the 47th president indoors. Not just was the event held indoors, flags were flown at half-staff to mark the death of President Jimmy Carter who died at the age of 100. Many believe that President Carter was a man that Donald Trump will never be. He was a man who lived for humanity and showed Christ in all he did. As usual, the self-serving Donald Trump couldn’t help throwing tantrums.
On his 100th day in office as President, Joe, accompanied by First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, travelled to Plains, Georgia to see Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter. Ninety-six year-old Jimmy Carter was making plans for his funeral. He asked that President Joe Biden do his eulogy. According to Biden, Jimmy, a born-again Christian from the south who lived with so much compassion for humanity, said to him, “My dad used to talk about, ‘Everybody’s entitled to be treated with dignity, no matter what, just an even chance.’ And that was Carter.
As I lounged in my sofa with a cup of hot coffee and watched the inauguration ceremony, I couldn’t help but imagine the pain in the heart of the fellow Americans. The Bidens are known to be humble, Christ-like in character, and patriotic Americans who did everything in the interest of working families. Joe was passing the torch to a self-serving wannabe dictator with no regard for humanity. There is nothing patriotic about him, there is nothing Christ-like in Donald Trump. I had just one question in mind as I watched what seemed like the funeral of our beloved country: Is this the end of America as leader of the free world? Was Melania Trump’s inauguration outfit telling us something? Was Mother Nature sending us a message on that day? Only time will give me the answers.
Let me call our minds back to January 2020. Biden had won 80 million votes, amounting to a landslide victory. Trump, as expected, wouldn’t accept the results. He created doubts in the minds of his MAGA-cult followers which led to an insurrection in the Capitol to stop Vice President Mike Pence from certifying the election results on January 6. Police officers lost their lives as they tried to defend our democracy. There was panic in the air as the movie, ‘Olympus has Fallen’ played through my mind. That wasn’t the last of it.
On January 20, 2020, Donald Trump would break an American tradition of peaceful transfer of power when he left the White House at 8 in the morning, denying the Bidens and us, Americans, the beauty of this day. Thank God we got the man, Joe Biden, to lead us in such a turbulent time.
President Biden, in his usual manner, was interested in America’s working families, not the oligarchs. He worked with the best to keep America strong in the middle of a worldwide economic crisis. Unemployment was lowest in his time as president. He lowered the cost of prescription drugs. He fought the rich to help the poor and middle class. He saved us from Donald Trump. His downfall was that he came at a time when people no longer care about verifiable facts; they fall for conspiracy theories and religious manipulations.
It was heartbreaking to see Joe being so gracious to a man like Donald Trump. Well, that’s what patriotism looks like. President Biden loves America and seizes every opportunity to show how much he does. He invited Trump for tea; this he never got from him. The pettiness in Melania couldn’t let her honour First Lady Jill’s invitation, but that didn’t stop Dr. Jill Biden from giving her a warm hug on that cold morning.
Do I blame people like Michelle Obama for not showing up to the inauguration? Probably not; many of us would do the same to a man who instigated life-threatening events against our family. Would Joe and Jill do it differently? Probably yes; their level of patriotism and Christlikeness is top tier. Joe loves even in pain. Each time I look into his eyes, all I see is a man who has been through so much in life and still loves. From the death of his wife to that of his great son, Beau, who died of brain cancer, to his only surviving son, Hunter being cut in the destructive arms of drug addiction, Joe kept his life and family together through it all. Joe loves and served America through it all. Joe loves and served God through it all. He practised his Christian faith genuinely, unlike the man Trump who used the church for photo opportunities, even though he never went to church; even though he made it clear that he does not ask God for forgiveness.
Joe Biden is a man who I can have my sons aspire to be like. Joe showed us all that the interest of America should supersede our own selfish interests. Joe showed us that Christianity is by our fruits, not by our words and noise. Joe showed us that family matters more than anything else we achieve. Joe’s life is a challenge for me to love and be gracious at all times. History will be kind to the 46th President of America, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.