Danish reactions to Biden’s inauguration

 Today we take a break from disease and see what Danish politicians have to say about the changing of the guard in the White House. It might not be very surprising, but let’s indulge in a little celebration and relief. It’s been a long four years for Western Europe to watch its greatest ally go rogue and then descend into antidemocratic chaos. Here are the party leaders:

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (DK) of the Social Democratic party:

“I hope that President Biden will be a unifying force after the unrest and division that we have unfortunately seen grow in the United States.”

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen (DK) of the Liberal Party:

“Now the world will be a more decent place … I look forward to being able to recognize an America that takes global leadership and is engaged in its surroundings.”

Pia Olsen Dyhr (DK) of the Socialist People’s Party: 

“Such a festive day. It’s hard not to be enthusiastic.”

Sofie Carsten Nielsen (DK) of the Social Liberal party:

“American democracy is being challenged, and it will be a gigantic task to gather people together. But today I will allow myself to hope … We must speak out against populism - but not turn our backs on the people who pursue populism. For we must speak together and solve the problems that nurture discouragement and the experience of loss of control and distrust of the establishment.”

Pernille Skipper (DK) of the Red-Green Party, retweeting a thread with photos of “some of the weirdest & dumbest sh*t our failed dictator did…”:

“Now I dare again to make fun of him … Priceless”:

Former leader of the free world staring into the sun during a solar eclipse

On the significance for the world 

In an interview on Danish television (DK), Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Danish prime minister (from the right-wing Liberal Party) and NATO general secretary, was asked, “Is there anything about Trump’s tenure you will miss?”

“No, not a single thing. He will certainly go down in history as the worst president the United States has ever had. He created division in the US, and he weakened the free world outside of the country. . . . He leaves a more insecure world than the one he took over. So it is a great relief for us all that he is gone, and I look forward very much to Biden as president.”

Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod added:

“[Trump] dragged the United States out of the world at a time when it had the greatest need for American leadership … The United States has the best in the world and the worst in the world gathered together in one place. . . . And what we saw on January 6, that was one of the worst things in the world.”