On Tuesday, December 1, the New York Times published an article entitled, “Biden Team Re-envisions A Covid-Era Inauguration,” (written by Michael Shear and Nicholas Fandos. It was on page A19). The head of the Biden inaugural committee stated, “We will honor the American inaugural traditions and engage Americans across the country while keeping everybody healthy and safe.” A number of traditional events (the signing ceremony in the President’s room off the Senate floor, the inaugural balls for example) might get cancelled. A Biden inauguration spokesperson “said the trick would be to combine in-person elements ….with virtual Internet-based moments that bring in voices of people who cannot travel to attend the celebration.
I agree with the direction of these changes but feel that are much too feeble. Instead, I would like to propose a more extreme version. Cancel all in person activity --- have no one on the mall --- and do everything virtually. (I make this recommendation even though the work constructing the reviewing stand between the White House and Lafayette Square has already begun.)
I hope the cancellation of all in-person aspects to the inauguration is what the Biden inaugural committee will ultimately decide upon. As the COVID infections, hospitalizations and deaths increase between now and early January, it may be that it will be impossible to have even a stripped down public event on the National Mall. I propose that, for example, the concerts at the Lincoln Memorial and around Washington, DC during the weekend before Inauguration Day all be broadcast nationwide. The administration of the oath of office and the delivery of the inaugural address should be presented virtually. That way, all Americans can view them from the safety of their living rooms.
In addition to holding a virtual inaugural celebration, Biden should promise that when the pandemic is defeated, all the public events cancelled for 2021 will occur in January of 2022. The great party on the mall with a “second year” inaugural address, the concerts at the Lincoln Memorial and around town --- and those inaugural balls --- will all occur --- just a year later.
This radical departure from tradition is essential, in my opinion, to set a good example. The last thing the new Biden Administration wants is to begin his term of office by exposing hundreds of thousands of people to infection by this killer virus. Yes, there are hundreds of thousands of people who would love to come to DC to celebrate the country’s liberation from Donald Trump. And if recent experience is any indication, there would be plenty of people who would willingly risk their lives to attend this event. Remember, public health officials pleaded with the public not to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday. Too many people ignored those pleas. But when it comes to what kind of inauguration ceremonies will take place, the new President has complete control. I urge him to seriously consider going beyond what has been reported in the press and cancel ALL public events.
This responsible decision would stand in sharp contrast to the Trump administration’s plans to hold 20 indoor holiday parties before departing the White House. For details see Annie Karni “It’s Holiday Party Season at the White House. Masks Are Encouraged, but Not Required.” The New York Times (December 1, 2020.) [In the broadcast version of this, I erroneously said there were 25 planned parties.]
Last summer approximately 460,000 people attended the ten day Sturgis South Dakota motor cycle rally. The Governor of South Dakota and local businesses obviously felt that the economic benefits to the local economy were too important to give up, no matter what the risk to participants and those with whom they had contact after they went home. A study using cellphone location data and virus case counts to analyze the spread of COVID-19 from that event estimated that over 266 thousand cases could be linked to the rally. If 460 thousand were to attend Biden’s inaugural let’s assume that one day affair would be likely to produce ten percent of the cases caused last summer.
That would be 26,000 cases – that’s TWENTY-SIX THOUSAND TOO MANY.
[For details with slightly different numbers see Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder, “Report: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally May Have Caused Over 250,000 Coronavirus Cases” US News and World Report. The sophisticated statistical study on which this article is based is very detailed and I have to admit it made my eyes glaze over. The final estimated number from that study is actually a bit closer to 263,000 cases. By the way, the statistical study was not peer-reviewed which means it is possible that the conclusions are not definitive. For details about the nature of the study and the challenges that have been raised about its methodology see the discussion in SNOPES. For the purposes of my proposal however, even if the amount of virus spread was only HALF what this study concluded, it would still mean that a large number of people were negatively affected as a result --- and that a large number of people would be protected from infection if the Biden inauguration were made 100% virtual.]
There’s also an economic issue. The first Obama inauguration cost $160 million. Trump’s inaugural cost about $200 million. MUCH OF THIS WOULD BE SAVED if President-elect Biden were to cancel all the public activities. [Unlike the analysis that led to the idea that the Sturgis rally caused over 250,000 cases of COVID-19, these numbers are pretty firm.] Add to that the expenses visited upon those who decided to travel a long distance to participate in the inauguration.
I hope everyone reading this can attempt to get the word (directly or indirectly) to the Biden inaugural committee. That means call your member of Congress --- write directly to the Biden-Harris transition team --- try to find out how to contact the inaugural committee directly --- write letters to the editor of your local paper. Do anything and everything you can --- LIVES are literally at stake --- as well as the need for the incoming Biden Administration to set a good example and break 100% with the disgusting behavior of the Trump Administration.
The statements quoted in the New York Times article do not go nearly far enough. By cancelling all in person activities, President Biden is in a position to save lives, save dollars, demonstrate true leadership --- AND --- once we beat the virus we can have a fantastic public inauguration a year later. And what a celebration that will be.
That January 2022 celebration could be a two-fer --- celebrating Biden’s inaugural and the successful defeat of the virus. The year’s delay would be a celebration of how to REALLY fight the virus as opposed to the criminal magical thinking of the Trump Administration whose inaction and misinformation has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
Michael Meeropol is professor emeritus of Economics at Western New England University. He is the author with Howard and Paul Sherman of the recently published second edition of Principles of Macroeconomics: Activist vs. Austerity Policies
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