«It will be its own character, it will be its own wonderful character.»
In his decades in elected office, President Joe Biden attended dozens of his predecessors’ joint addresses to the U.S. Congress, but the scene he faces when he takes the podium at the House of Representatives on Wednesday will look very different. Just 200 people, mostly lawmakers plus a handful of representatives of other arms of government and select family members, will attend the masked, socially distanced speech, in a nod to the COVID-19 pandemic that has not fully released the nation from its grip. That is a far cry from the 1,600 officials, friends and guests who typically gather for a presidential speech. “It will be its own character, it will be its own wonderful character,” said House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a fellow Democrat. “We went from 1,600 people to 200 people. That is a different dynamic, but it has its own worth.” First lady Jill Biden will be in attendance, as will Douglas Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris’s husband.
