Bidens mark Christmas with holiday calls to service members

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden marked his archetypal Christmas successful bureau by making calls to subject work members stationed astir the world, offering them vacation wishes and gratitude for their work and sacrifice for the nation.

Joined by his wife, Jill, and their caller puppy, Commander, the president connected Saturday spoke via video to work members representing the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard, stationed astatine bases successful Quatar, Romania, Bahrain and the U.S.

“As your commandant successful chief, I wanted to instrumentality this accidental to accidental convey you, convey you, convey you,” helium told the work members. “We’re grateful for your courage, your sacrifice, not lone your sacrifice but your family’s sacrifice.”

Speaking from a workplace acceptable up astatine the White House, Biden told them they’re “the coagulated alloy spine of the nation,” and emphasized the “truly ineffable obligation” the federation has to attraction for soldiers and their families.

Jill Biden expressed empathy for the difficulties their families acquisition spending the holidays distant from their loved ones, noting that the Bidens experienced the aforesaid erstwhile their lad Beau, who served arsenic a large successful the Delaware Army National Guard, was deployed to Iraq.

The Bidens planned a comparatively quiescent Christmas astatine the White House with family. On Friday nighttime the president and the archetypal woman participated successful Holy Trinity’s Christmas Eve Mass virtually successful the East Room, according to the White House, and held a pasta meal and sleepover with their children and grandchildren, a Biden household tradition.

As the coronavirus pandemic surges anew, driven by the highly infectious omicron variant, the Bidens sought with their nationalist appearances and statements to connection a consciousness of unity and normalcy successful an different challenging play for many.

In a Christmas statement, the Bidens praised the “enormous courage, character, resilience, and resolve” of the American radical successful the look of the pandemic, and offered prayers that the federation would find “light successful the darkness” during a hard season.

“During this play of joy, we are inspired by the countless Americans who are a reminder that the things we clasp ineffable unite america and transcend distance, time, and adjacent the constraints of a pandemic,” the Bidens said successful their statement.

And the telephone to soldiers was conscionable the latest Christmas contented the 2 participated in, aft spending Christmas eve spreading vacation cheer astir Washington. On Friday morning, they visited Children’s National Hospital to connection vacation greetings to young patients and their families. The president showed disconnected photos of their caller puppy and Jill work a children’s publication to patients.

Later, the 2 stopped by a Jill Biden-themed Christmas histrion successful the Dupont Circle neighborhood. The president hung the 2021 White House Christmas ornament amid branches decked retired with photos of his wife’s face, apples and tiny chalkboards, successful homage to her teaching career.

Both answered calls to the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Santa-tracking service, speaking to parents and children astir their Christmas wishlists.