President Biden called into the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, urging Americans to “come together” and put unity above politics over the holiday weekend — and beyond.
“On this Thanksgiving, Al, we have to come together,” the president told NBC’s Al Roker. “We can have different political views, but we have one view. The one view is that we’re the finest, greatest nation in the world. We should focus on that.”
“We should focus on dealing with our problems and being together and stop the rancor,” he continued. “We have to bring the nation together and treat each other with a little bit of decency, and I think that’s where the vast majority of the American people are.”
The president and first lady Jill Biden called in from their vacation in Nantucket, Mass. — an island off Cape Cod — where they traditionally spend Thanksgiving.
The first family also took time to call service members of each military branch to offer “sincere gratitude for the sacrifices they make every day to protect our freedom,” the president posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“We have to remind ourselves how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on the face of the earth,” Biden said earlier in his call with Roker. “Today is about coming together, giving thanks for this country we call home.”
“And thanks to all the firefighters, police officers, first responders and our troops, some of whom are stationed abroad,” the president added.
They also made a stop at the Nantucket Fire Department, according to pool reports. The first lady was seen carrying two pumpkin pie boxes tied with purple ribbons into the building while another man followed behind with more boxes.
Upon their exit from the department, Biden inspected a fire truck and spoke with a firefighter, the note reported.
He briefly took questions from reporters about the pending short-term truce in the war between Israel and Hamas militants.
The temporary cease-fire is expected to begin Friday, according to Qatari negotiators. Under the four-day truce, 50 hostages are expected to be released — including three Americans.
Asked about the truce, Biden said he is keeping his “fingers crossed” that a 3-year-old American girl is safely returned. But, he declined to say more about the deal “until it is done.”