Biden gets honorary degree from Howard University, heads to beach house amid border crisis
Fox News
President Biden was busy this weekend with a university commencement address and a trip to his private home in Delaware amid turmoil following the end of Title 42.
Biden spoke Saturday at Howard University in Washington D.C., delivering the commencement address to the historically Black university.
He later boarded Air Force One and arrived at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware house after 2 p.m. ET. Biden briefly took questions before boarding the presidential aircraft, saying the debt ceiling talks are “moving along” but “we are not there yet.”
WATCH LIVE: PRESIDENT BIDEN DELIVERS COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY
The announcement comes after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) forced asylum officers to work through the weekend in an effort to deal with the surge of migrants at the southern border seeking to claim asylum in the U.S., Fox News Digital learned exclusively on Friday.
Title 42, the public health order that allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the southern border due to the COVID-19 pandemic, expired on Thursday night with the ending of the COVID-19 national emergency.
BIDEN HEADS TO BEACH AS DHS FORCES EMPLOYEES TO WORK WEEKEND AT THE BORDER
In the days leading up to the order’s end, agents have been encountering historic levels of over 10,000 migrants a day — with authorities already preparing for releases of migrants without court dates onto the streets.
Biden did not make reference to the ongoing crisis during his speech at Howard University.
The president spoke at length about the 2021 Capitol riots and his inauguration days afterward.
“In January 2021 I stood in the US Capitol to be inaugurated as President of the United States. Just days before on that very spot, a violent insurrection took place — a dagger at the throat of democracy,” Biden told the audience. “For the first time in our history, an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power in this country. They failed.”
Biden highlighted the presence of the Howard University marching band’s presence during his inauguration parade with Vice President Kamala Harris.
He continued, “Our democracy held, and again hope prevailed. And this time, I was standing with a black woman about to take a two-hour procession down Pennsylvania Avenue as president and Vice President of the United States of America. And who was marching alongside her? The Howard University marching band in lockstep and solidarity.”