Symbol Of Unity? Inauguration News Coverage Illustrates Differences That Pull Country Apart

A presidential inauguration is traditionally a symbol of the traditions that bind Americans together. Mainstream media coverage of the event on Monday provided many reminders of what keeps people apart.

On the Martin Luther King Day holiday, news organizations offered wall-to-wall coverage of President Donald Trump's second inaugural, an event held largely indoors in Washington because of frigid temperatures.

In many respects, it was a return to normal after Trump did not attend successor Joe Biden's swearing in four years ago. The ceremony offered images of bipartisanship that "the country to some extent is hungry for," said NBC News' Kristen Welker.

A few hours later, historian Jon Meacham was on the same network declaring that Trump had given "the most partisan inaugural that I think I know of in American history." He said he was stunned that religious figures called to deliver invocations seemed to take sides as well. "When religion is used to divide and exalt one side over the other, we are in a place where we need to take care," Meacham said.

On CNN, conservative commentator Scott Jennings praised Trump's speech as remarkable, saying he enjoyed the chance to "watch Donald Trump indict the gangsters to their faces," referring to Biden and some of his supporters.