Politics | January 28th, 2021
The First Week of Presidency: Biden vs Trump
By: Kailyn Rhone
With no time to waste, 46th President Joe Biden has started undoing the policies of former president Donald Trump with a slew of executive orders within his first days in office.
So far, Biden has ordered to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords, ended the Muslim ban, restored workplace protections for the LBGTQ+ community and at least 30 other orders. Although it may be too early to say that Biden will do everything he promised in his first 100 days plan, many say that he is making America “greater” than President Trump has done within the first week – and even four years – of his presidency.
“Yeah he did more positive things in one day than trump did in his 4 years of office,” tweeted Twitter user @MehakGulati18.
Yeah he did more positive things in one day than trump did in his 4 years of office. #JoeBiden #BidenAdministration pic.twitter.com/e86AFdn3mM
— Mehak ♡ HS (@justanotherfgay) January 22, 2021
The first seemingly gruesome week of former President Donald Trump’s presidency, he did what he is notoriously known for — tweeting. Trump didn’t waste time either and tweeted less than an hour after him being sworn in as president writing, “What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.”
Former President Trump didn’t want to start working on his ‘huge’ celebration day, so he originally planned to begin the following week. However, he did order a few things on his Inauguration Day, one being an executive order to advance the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Later on, Trump did at least 16 different actions within his first week including suspending immigration from terror-prone regions, repealing the health care law and the infamous construction of the wall along the border ― which he wanted the people of Mexico to fund.
The main difference between the two presidents’ first week is not the executive orders but perhaps the nation’s atmosphere, literally. Roughly four years ago in Washington D.C., on January 20th, it was overcast and slightly rainy. On Biden’s Inauguration day, it was bright and sunny, which many people also noticed and took to social media.
“If you were looking for signs, I can tell you that it started to rain four years ago, just as Trump started taking his oath of office and that the sun really came out just a few minutes before Biden took his,” wrote Twitter user @MEPFuller.
January 6, 2021 / January 20, 2021 pic.twitter.com/whAXzVenbo
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) January 20, 2021
Ironically, Biden tweeted on his Inauguration day before his swearing-in, stating: “It’s a new day in America.”
Comparing the two, the majority of people at Trump’s inauguration were all of one race. While at Biden’s inauguration, although the majority still may have been caucasian people, there was more diversity in race, gender, and age.
Many were joyous at the inauguration to see such a historical moment occur right before their eyes with the first-ever women vice president and countless other history-making moments within the diverse event.
And still after his presidency, Trump was determined to continue making ground-breaking history himself in Florida. He didn’t attend the inauguration and neither had plans to after his supporters attack at the capitol. He became the first incumbent president to miss his successor’s swearing-in since the 17th President Andrew Johnson.
Safe to say that the Biden-Harris administration is ready to serve and doesn’t need the former president’s blessing to do so. The majority of the nation awaits to see what the current president will continue to sign off his first week and if he executes all his plans for his first 100 days in office.
