Tom Hanks, who stumped for Joe Biden during last year’s presidential race, presided over Wednesday’s primetime Biden-Harris inauguration broadcast special, “Celebrating America,” featuring a slew of Hollywood elites who demonized Americans and shamed them for not supporting the politician that the elites wanted to win.
The broadcast was stacked with anti-Trump celebrities, including Eva Longoria, Kerry Washington, Bruce Springsteen, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
President Biden delivered a brief speech at the Lincoln Memorial during which he repeated his calls for “unity” while also invoking the suddenly ubiquitous word “decency.” In a veiled jab at his predecessor Donald Trump, he said, “Because of you, democracy has prevailed,” adding that America is built on “decency and dignity.”
Vice President Kamala Harris also invoked unity in her brief address that touched on “American aspiration.” The former California senator urged Americans to muster the “courage to see beyond crisis, to do what is hard, to do what is good, to unite.”
During the telecast, pop stars performed songs seemingly designed to whip up enthusiasm for the incoming administration. Justin Timberlake and Ant Clemons performed “Better Days,” while Jon Bon Jovi appeared in a pre-recorded performance of “Here Comes the Sun.”
A slew of Broadway stars performed a virtual rendition of “Let the Sunshine In” from the musical Hair, and “Seasons of Love” from Rent.
Biden surrogate John Legend performed a rendition of the song “Feeling Good.”
Though Tom Hanks steered clear of partisan sentiment, he mentioned that Biden’s swearing-in took place in a “secured” capital city — a reference to the unprecedented 25,000 troops patrolling Washington, D.C..
In the last few years, “we’ve witnessed deep divisions and a troubling rancor in our land. But tonight we ponder the United States of America,” Hanks said from his spot at the Lincoln Memorial. “This day is about witnessing the permanence of our American idea.”
Speaking from Los Angeles, Eva Longoria touched on “social justice” and spoke of building a more “inclusive” democracy. The Desperate Housewives star served as a host of the Democratic National Convention in August.
Scandal star Kerry Washington called Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascendancy “a long day coming… She is the first but she will not be the last.”
Pop star Demi Lovato sang “Lovely Day” from Los Angeles as the camera cut to Jill and Joe Biden, who was holding his grandson Beau, watching the perforce from the White House.
Former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama appeared on the broadcast via a pre-recorded video and urged Americans to work together in the times ahead.
“I think if Americans would love their neighbor like they liked to be loved themselves, a lot of the division in our society would end,” Bush said.
“That’s what this means,” Clinton said. “It’s a new beginning, and everybody needs to get off their high horse and reach out to their friends and neighbors.”
“As Americans we have more in common than what separates us,” Obama said.
The nearly two-hour long event ended with pop star and Biden backer Katy Perry singing her hit song “Firework” as Biden, Kamala Harris, and their families watched the actual fireworks display light up the National Mall.
As Breitbart News reported, the “Celebrating America” telecast was broadcast on all three major TV networks — pre-empting regularly scheduled shows — as well as on CNN, MSNBC, and a number of streaming services, including the anti-Trump Amazon Prime Video.
Left-wing, anti-Trump Hollywood celebrities played a major role in all of the Biden inauguration festivities. Lady Gaga sang the national anthem during Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony, with her bizarre outfit predictably stealing the show and drawing comparisons to The Hunger Games.
Jennifer Lopez also performed at the ceremony, at one point screaming in Spanish: “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
In the celebrations leading up to the swearing-in ceremony, Debra Messing kicked off the partying by co-hosting a virtual fundraiser. Messing has promoted violence against Donald Trump by wishing on Twitter that he gets raped in prison.
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