Joe Biden set to arrive in Washington on eve of his inauguration

President-elect Joe Biden arrives in Washington Tuesday for the start of his inaugural ceremonies at a dark and solemn moment in American history, preparing to take his oath of office as the US approaches 400,000 coronavirus deaths and is more divided than at any time since the Civil War.

When he announced his run for the presidency in 2019, Biden said he was inspired to seek the nation's highest office after watching President Donald Trump's dismissive handling of the deadly White supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when he said there were "very fine people on both sides." Now intent on healing a deeply fractured country, Biden's task has never seemed more daunting after Trump incited a riot with his lies that the presidential election was stolen, which led an armed mob to storm the Capitol on January 6 and resulted in the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer.