As he presided over his last Christmas tree lighting on the White Home, Joe Biden on Thursday stated his want for the nation now, and all the time, was that “we proceed to hunt the sunshine of liberty and love, kindness and compassion, dignity and decency”
Biden spoke briefly to the gang who have been decked out in heavy winter layers as frigid winds and chilly temperatures hit the nation’s capital. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, have been additionally in attendance. The tree has been arrange on the Ellipse, past the White Home South Garden, and it’s seen on the streets.
The 30-foot crimson spruce got here from Mount Rogers nationwide recreation space in Grayson county, Virginia. It was transferred to the White Home on 15 November.
It’s the ultimate vacation stretch for Biden. His spouse, Jill, has decked out the White Home with whimsical decorations to evoke the “peace and lightweight” of the season. She missed the lighting this yr as a result of she was in Doha, Qatar, the place she was discussing her initiative on ladies’s well being.
So Biden did the honors himself, counting down from 5 earlier than the tree lit up a cheery vivid inexperienced from the tip-top to the underside of the trunk. He wished the gang a Merry Christmas earlier than stepping all the way down to take his seat for musical performances.
Biden stated the theme displays the “peace we really feel as we pause and replicate on our blessings and the sunshine we see as we collect with family members and cherish our time collectively”.
The tree-lighting ceremony is an annual custom. On Thursday, Trombone Shorty and Trisha Yearwood have been among the many performers.
The White Home Christmas show features a towering tree surrounded by an amusement park-style carousel, brass-colored bells and sleigh bells lining a hallway, and a ceiling design that mimics snowfall.
That tree got here from a farm in Newland, North Carolina, the place Hurricane Helene struck earlier this yr. The Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm, which had stood for many years, misplaced hundreds of bushes to a mudslide.
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