Twenty years in the past this month, President George W Bush landed in Rome to pay his respects to a deceased pope, John Paul II. He was the primary sitting president to attend a papal funeral. However he was not alone: He had requested his predecessor, Invoice Clinton, to experience alongside on Air Pressure One, alongside together with his father, George HW Bush.
Collectively, the three presidents sped to St Peter’s Basilica. Kneeling, they prayed facet by facet earlier than the pope’s physique.
It was a exceptional show of American bipartisan unity, the sort of kinship amongst political rivals that feels unimaginable right now. And issues performed out otherwise when President Donald Trump landed in Rome on Friday evening to attend Pope Francis’ funeral. He was accompanied by his spouse, Melania, and a clutch of senior aides. However his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, and his spouse, Jill, flew in on their very own.
Contemplating Trump had lately stripped Biden of his safety clearances and usually denounces him, it’s comprehensible they didn’t share a experience to Rome. When former President Jimmy Carter died in Dec, Trump stated he had handed away “a cheerful man” within the data that “he wasn’t the worst. President Joe Biden was.”
Biden has usually talked about his Roman Catholic upbringing. He noticed Francis briefly in Italy in June, weeks earlier than the disastrous debate with Trump that led to his resolution to drop out of the race. Biden had talked about returning to Rome to get the pope’s blessing earlier than leaving the White Home, however he cancelled the journey due to the Los Angeles wildfires in Jan.
Requested on the flight to Rome whether or not he deliberate to speak with Biden on the funeral, Trump sounded shocked his predecessor was attending. “It isn’t excessive on my checklist,” he stated. “It is actually not.” The distinction was stark. Bush was keen to make sure Clinton was a part of the complete presidential occasion. Not solely did the 2 males attend the funeral collectively, Clinton sat in on the extremely labeled presidential day by day transient on the flight over.
