WASHINGTON, Dec 26: The outgoing and incoming US presidents had different messages for the Christmas holiday on Wednesday, with Democrat Joe Biden urging Americans to reflect and unite, while Republican Donald Trump offered a holiday greeting and then took aim at his political opponents.
Biden narrated a video tour of the White House Christmas decorations that was published on YouTube late on Christmas Eve, in which he urges Americans to set aside "all the noise and everything that divides us."
"We're here on this Earth to care for one another, to love one another," Biden says in a voiceover as a camera pans past adorned evergreen trees and bedecked fireplaces inside the White House. "Too often we see each other as enemies, not as neighbors, not as fellow Americans," he said.
Biden urged Americans to find a moment of "quiet reflection" to remind themselves to treat each other with dignity and respect, to "live in the light" and remember there was more to unite than divide Americans. "We're truly blessed to live in this nation," he said.
Trump published a mid-morning "Merry Christmas" message on Truth Social on Christmas Day with a photo of himself and his wife Melania, followed by over two dozen re-posts of articles or other social media posts that backed his political positions on topics including Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth and his pursuit of Greenland and the Panama Canal. —REUTERS
