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With the coronavirus pandemic curtailing the traditional presidential parade from the Capitol to the White House, the inauguration of President Biden replaced it with a made-for-screens montage of performers from all 56 states, territories and Washington, D.C.
Mr. Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, entered the White House for the first time as the first family shortly before 4 p.m., and the virtual “Parade Across America” kicked off.
The hourlong festivities were hosted by Tony Goldwyn, who played the president on the TV show “Scandal,” and included appearances by the former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, a reunion of the band New Radicals, an epic nationwide dance-off called Dance Across America, and Nathan Apodaca, the Idaho man who went viral on TikTok this summer for skateboarding while drinking cranberry juice and listening to Fleetwood Mac.
Among the performing groups were a student equestrian team from Culver Academies in Indiana, a tap dancing squad from Boone, N.C., the Kilgore College Rangerettes from Texas (who danced before replica oil derricks) and Bango, the mascot of the Milwaukee Bucks pro basketball franchise. (Remember, the Democratic National Convention was supposed to take place in the Bucks’ arena.)
The virtual event replicated the highly entertaining Democratic National Convention roll call, an event widely remembered for its montage celebrating America’s most iconic scenery, along with Rhode Island’s calamari.
The Bidens and Vice President Kamala Harris entered the White House following a small group marching in Washington that included drumlines from the alma maters of Mr. Biden (University of Delaware) and Ms. Harris (Howard University). According to the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the virtual parade included 1,391 participants, 95 horses and nine dogs.
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