Biden issues call to unity that comes with urgency

WASHINGTON, D.C.: As newly inaugurated leaders often do, President Joe Biden began his tenure with a ritual call for American unity.

But standing on the same Capitol steps where just two weeks ago rioters laid siege to the nation’s democracy, Biden’s words felt less like rhetorical flourishes and more like an urgent appeal to stabilize a country reeling from a spiraling pandemic, economic uncertainty, racial tensions and a growing divide over truth versus lies.