NEW CASTLE, Del. — Joe Biden appeared in public Monday for the first time in more than two months, laying a wreath to honor the fallen at a Delaware war memorial.
What in most campaign years would be a fairly ordinary holiday ritual was anything but for the former vice president, who has only been seen by most Americans in small doses from a now-familiar makeshift TV studio in his Wilmington home since becoming the apparent Democratic nominee.
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Joined by his wife, Jill, and a protective detail from the Secret Service for the first time publicly, Biden wore a black face mask and his signature aviator sunglasses as he laid a wreath of white flowers at the Veterans Memorial Park in New Castle.
The last time Biden was seen publicly outside his home was on March 15, at the final Democratic primary debate against Bernie Sanders at CNN’s studios in Washington. Prior to that, his last in-person campaign event was at the DuPont Hotel in Wilmington on March 12, where he gave a lengthy speech on the coronavirus.
Biden took two brief questions Monday, telling a small pool of reporters “it feels good to be out of my house.” He also urged Americans to “never forget the sacrifices these men and women made. Never, ever, ever.”
The visit comes during a solemn week for the Biden family. This Saturday, May 30, marks five years since the death of his son Beau from brain cancer. His son was an Iraq war veteran, having served there in the Delaware Army National Guard.
Biden marked Memorial Day at the same location last year on the same anniversary, calling it a “bittersweet day.” “It’s a tough day all the time, no matter how much time has passed,” he said.
President Donald Trump also marked the day commemorating U.S. war dead, including a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery and making a trip to Baltimore — which remains under a stay-at-home order — with first lady Melania Trump to participate in a Memorial Day ceremony at Fort McHenry.
