Joe Biden Is Finally, Indisputably, President Now

After months, the 2020 election looks like it might really be over. As of noon Wednesday, Joe Biden has been sworn in as president and Donald Trump has glumly trudged out of the White House. There was a great deal of justified anxiety ahead of this Inauguration Day, with some 25,000 National Guard troops on hand in DC to prevent a repeat of the deadly pro-Trump riot at the Capitol earlier this month. But the inauguration itself went smoothly. While the National Mall was closed to the public, musicians like Lady Gaga and Garth Brooks performed for the small crowd and both Kamala Harris and Joe Biden were sworn in with no disturbance (and surprisingly little social distancing). Here’s how it went down:

Trump’s farewell playlist. The reality that he’s no longer president seems to have set in for Trump—maybe?—and he gave some farewell remarks from White House. While toned down, it was a pretty standard Trump speech, though he ended it with a curt, “Have a nice life. See you soon.” Then he walked off to the Village People’s “YMCA” and boarded a helicopter with his wife while, somewhere, speakers played Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” apparently without an ounce of irony or self-awareness.

Another type of lockdown. Between the 25,000 National Guard troops, military vehicles, portable chain link fences, and concrete barriers, DC had military occupation vibes today. Getting around was understandably difficult—even mayor Muriel Bowser resorted to delivering a pre-inauguration press conference from the median of Pennsylvania Avenue for lack of available space. One tourist used the phrase “war zone” while talking to local news.

At least one good cop. Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman famously distracted rioters on January 6, leading a group of them away from the Senate Chamber as they chased him around the Capitol building stairs, giving politicians a crucial extra couple minutes to escape. One reward for that: Goodman escorted Kamala Harris to the inauguration.

Bernie memes again. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Biden’s last opponent in the Democratic presidential primary, showed up in some cozy-as-hell mittens given to him by a Vermont school teacher who makes them out of recycled sweaters. Sanders also had on what looked like his much-memed jacket, quickly confirmed to be the genuine article.

Janet Yellen also dressed sensibly. Like Sanders, Janet Yellen—Biden’s nominee for Treasury Secretary—put a premium on comfort for the lengthy and chilly inauguration ceremony, bringing out a blanket along with her puffy jacket.

Joe Biden set a new fashion tone. Per GQ’s Cam Wolf, “Biden’s choice of suit is already a far cry from his predecessor’s. Trump was known for his predilection for Brioni suits and long dangling ties—an America-first president most interested in wearing a prominent European brand. In that way, Biden’s choice of an American label—let alone one as true-blue as Ralph Lauren—is significant.”

J.Lo got loud. Jennifer Lopez performed “This Land Is Your Land” ahead of the swearing-ins, and she threw in some unexpected but much-needed adlibbing midway through the staid song. Lopez cheered, “Justicia para todos,” (Spanish for “Justice for all”) and threw in a “Let’s get loud!” in reference to her hit song.

Lady Gaga wore uncharacteristically subtle jewelry. The singer boasted a massive golden dove pin for her performance of the national anthem. On Twitter, Gaga wrote that she chose the dove because it represents peace, and evidently she wanted to make sure that message was visible even from the back of the crowd.

Sonia Sotomayor stumbled over “Kamala.” Justice Sotomayor, the first Latina to sit on the Supreme Court, swore in the new vice president but may have missed the memo: It’s pronounced “Comma-la,” not “KA-ma-la.”

Biden’s bible was enormous. While at a glance it looks like the spellbook from Hocus Pocus, the massive Bible that Joe Biden used to take the Oath of Office has been in his family since 1893, and the president has used it for swearing-ins since the 1970s.

Poet Laureates are back and younger than ever. Trump chose to skip the tradition of having the U.S. Poet Laureate read an original work at his inauguration. Add this to the list of norms Biden will bring back. Amanda Gorman, who at 22 is the youngest laureate in history, read “The Hill We Climb” in a fabulous Prada headband: “We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it, Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. And this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, It can never be permanently defeated.”

Bill Clinton felt snoozy. Look, it’s been a long week.

Meanwhile, back at the White House... The Oval Office received an especially thorough deep-cleaning in light of COVID-19 precautions as soon as Trump was out.

Ghost town vibes. “Biggest inauguration crowd ever” jokes notwithstanding, the pandemic and massive police presence in DC made the city seem practically abandoned. In past years the presidential inauguration has drawn supporters (and sometimes protesters) in droves from across the country. This year, a mere three pro-Trump protesters with a Confederate flag were enough to merit a mention in a national newspaper.

QAnon imploded. The very specific conspiracy theory claimed that Trump would carry out a coup today and throw Joe Biden in prison along with other global elitist pedophiles. Or something. But with the inauguration complete, even the most die-hard of QAnon supporters are starting to admit that, no, Trump isn’t president anymore. Reporters who follow right-wing extremism have been sharing message board conversations between believers as they realize “omg none of this was real.”

So did Trump protests. No one is likely having a worse day than the single Trump supporter at the New York State capitol. As of noon, he was the only attendee for what was supposed to be a protest of several thousand people.

Oh and Macklemore’s back. If the Biden administration’s goal is to bring the country back to before 2016 then we’re already on track: Macklemore just put out a new song. More specifically, Macklemore shared the “Trump’s Over Freestyle,” wherein he laments that things didn’t get immediately better at midnight on December 30: “We thought 2021 was going to save us/ we thought we were going to love all our neigbors/we thought COVID was over being contagious/ nope, America's still armed, dumb, and dangerous.” Still no word on a new Rihanna album though.

Originally Appeared on GQ