NANTUCKET, Mass. — President Joe Biden called on a deeply divided United States to “end the hard feelings” as he continued a longtime family tradition of celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday on this island off the Cape Cod.
Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, called NBC News’ Al Roker before the Thanksgiving parade in Manhattan. In brief, upbeat remarks, they said Americans should come together to solve the problems facing the nation. Although polls show the two parties are divided on a number of issues, Biden has said most Americans would prefer to see the acrimony end.
“On this Thanksgiving, Al, we must come together,” the president said. “We may have different political opinions, but we have one point of view. Some people think we are the best and greatest nation in the world. We should focus on that.
“We should focus on solving our problems, being together and ending the resentment. We need to bring the nation together and treat each other with some decency, and I think that’s where the vast majority of the American people are. »
The Bidens arrived Tuesday for the Thanksgiving holiday at the waterfront home of billionaire David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. On a quiet Thanksgiving morning, out of public view, the president and first lady called on units from each branch of the military, according to the White House.
They then drove to the Nantucket Fire Department, bringing gifts. Wearing a baseball cap and navy coat, the president entered the building with his wife, who carried two pie boxes adorned with purple ribbons.
Biden is also monitoring the deal between Israel and Hamas to release hostages held in Gaza. Israel and Hamas agreed to suspend fighting at midnight ET, with the first 13 Gaza hostages to be handed over at 9 a.m. ET on Friday, according to Qatar, the broker in the hostage negotiations. Under the deal between the fighters, Hamas is to release a total of 50 hostages, while Israeli officials will release 150 Palestinians in their custody.
Reporters shouted questions about the hostage deal as Biden left the fire department.
“I’m not ready to take stock until it’s done,” Biden said.
He was asked if a three-year-old American girl would be among the first hostages to be freed, the president said: “Fingers crossed.
In his earlier remarks as the parade was about to begin, Biden steered clear of the hostage deal, as well as anything resembling a partisan message. “I’ve never been more optimistic,” he said.
His campaign did not hold back, however.
An email released Thursday by Biden’s re-election campaign was titled “Your Practical Guide to Responding to Crazy MAGA Nonsense This Thanksgiving.” In it, the campaign suggests ways to respond at the dinner table if and when family members start talking politics and praising Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in polls.
Should they mention polls showing Trump ahead of Bidenthe campaign suggests responding with: “Oh, those same polls and pundits who said Joe Biden would never be president and that Republicans would have massive victories last November” in the midterm elections.
For his Thanksgiving message, Trump adopted a more somber tone. “Our country is in serious trouble,” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “We don’t have any more victories.”
Nantucket became the Biden family’s Thanksgiving vacation spot more or less by accident. In 1975, Biden was a widower with two young sons, Beau and Hunter. He was dating Jill Jacobs at the time. Rather than choosing one family or another for Thanksgiving dinner, then Sen. Biden took an aide’s advice and all four went to Nantucket, he wrote in his 2017 memoir, “Promise Me, Dad.”
“It was cool on the island in late November, but you could smell the salty, pungent Atlantic air,” Biden wrote. “The island had emptied out during the season, so we had a lot of the place to ourselves.”
No more. As president, Biden travels with a huge entourage of support staff. Hulking C-17 planes landed at the island’s small airport earlier this week to unload vehicles and cargo. Secret Service agents were spotted the day before Thanksgiving walking the island’s cobblestone streets.
“It’s important that we all commit to doing an act of kindness today,” Jill Biden said when she and her husband spoke to Roker. “Call someone and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving or do something nice.”
Or maybe something brave. With temperatures in the 40s in the morning, the president and his family participated in an annual tradition, a “polar bear dive” in the frigid waters of Nantucket. The president’s eldest granddaughter, Naomi Biden, posted a photoe on social media platform X showing the group at the water’s edge, wrapped in towels and, one can only assume, happy to be back on dry land.
