President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris sat down with Jake Tapper on Thursday night for a wide-ranging interview. Among the topics discussed was whether Donald Trump, who continues to refuse to concede despite the fact that there is no evidence of voter fraud and all the votes have been certified, would attend Biden’s inauguration.
Said Biden: “[It’s] important only in one sense. Not in a personal sense, important in a sense that we are able to demonstrate at the end of this chaos that he’s created that there is a peaceful transfer of power with the competing parties standing there, shaking hands, and moving on. What I worry about more than the impact on the domestic politics, I really worry about the image we’re presenting to the rest of the world.”
“The world follows us just not because of the example of our power, [but because of] the power of our example,” Biden continued. “And look where we are now in the world. Look how we’re viewed. They’re wondering ‘my lord, these things happen in tin horn dictatorships. This is not the United States.’ In that sense, the protocol of the transfer of power I think is important, but it is totally his decision and it’s of no personal consequence to me, but I do think it is for the country.”
Biden also said he’d order a 100-day mask mandate. “Just 100 days to mask, not forever. One hundred days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction.”
Biden also said his family would have no business conflicts: “My son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise, that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict, with the appropriate distance from, the presidency and government.”
The president-elect also said that several Republican senators have called him privately to congratulate him.
