Donald Trump Delivers Pugnacious Speech After Swearing In As 45th President Of The United States
UPDATE with video: “America will start winning again, like never before,” President Donald Trump crowed, in his first speech after being sworn in to office by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to become the 45th President of the United States.
Kissing family members and shaking hands with former President Barack Obama after taking the oath of office, Trump gave a fist pump to America, followed by a thumbs up, before beginning his inaugural address, in which he vowed to “eradicate completely from the face of the Earth” all “radical Islamic terrorism.”
“Together we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come,” Trump pledged.
“Every four years we gather on these step to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid through this transition. They have been magnificent. Thank you,” Trump said as he began his address.
Then, pivoting sharply, Trump indicted Obama’s White House in a speech that was pretty radical and lofty-rhetoric-free for an inaugural but entirely in keeping with the campaign speeches that won him the White House. Except, it lacked his trademark attack on the press, which did not go unnoticed by members of the media.
“Today…we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you the people,” he said. “For too long, a small group in our nation’s capitol has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed.”
“Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs,” he continued. “And while they celebrated in our nation’s capitol there was little to celebrate, for struggling families all across our land.
“That all changes starting right here and right now…January 20, 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.”
“We’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military,” Trump criticized. “We’ve defended other nations’ border while refusing to defend our own, and spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.”
Trump described a “different reality” for “too many of our citizens.”
“Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation, and an education system flush with cash but which leaves…students deprived of all knowledge.” Crime gangs, and drugs, he said, “have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much realized potential.
“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”
Trump was sworn in after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas became the first African American to administer an oath of office, swearing in Vice President Mike Pence.
In between the two, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang. In December, A singer in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has resigned from the choir in protest of its scheduled performance at Trump’s inauguration writing, “I only know I could never ‘throw roses to Hitler.’ And I certainly could never sing for him.” Performance at the inauguration, was voluntary, an LDS church rep said in a statement at that time.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRBsJNdK1t0&w=620&h=340]
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