NPR

Biden Says He Wants To Unite America. He Might Find Unity Hard To Come By

As Joe Biden is inaugurated, he is hoping to bring America together. But the country's modern divisions didn't begin and end with Trump.
President-elect Joe Biden speaks Tuesday at a National Guard/Reserve Center in New Castle, Del., named after his late son, Beau, before departing for Washington, D.C.

If you haven't heard, Joe Biden would like to unite America.

It was a focus of the Democrat's campaign. It's even the theme of Biden's inauguration — "America United."

The inaugural committee says the slogan "reflects the beginning of a new national journey that restores the soul of America, brings the country together, and creates a path to a brighter future."

If only it were that easy.

When Biden is sworn in at 12:01 p.m. ET Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States, it will be with the understanding that the country is as divided as it's ever been, as pessimistic as it's been in three decades and facing health, economic and racial crises.

It will also be a very different inauguration than has ever been seen in U.S. history. Four years ago, President Trump was arguing over

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