The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, will be attending President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration in January.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates issued a statement noting that Joe Biden had previously “promised” he would “attend the inauguration” of whichever candidate won the 2024 presidential election, according to CBS News.
Bates noted that Biden sees attending Trump’s inauguration “as an important demonstration of commitment” to the nation’s “democratic values.”
“The president promised that he would attend the inauguration of whomever won the election,” Bates said in his statement. “He and the first lady are going to honor that promise and attend the inauguration. He views that as an important demonstration of commitment to our democratic values, and to honoring the will of the people, as we continue to provide an orderly and effective transition.”
The confirmation of the Bidens attending Trump’s inauguration comes after Trump announced he would not attend Biden’s inauguration in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” Trump wrote in a post on X, known as Twitter at the time.
Bates added that White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients had “met multiple times” with Susie Wiles, whom Trump recently selected to serve as his chief of staff. Wiles previously served as Trump’s campaign manager.
