Joe Biden urges nation to ‘forgo family traditions’ on Thanksgiving

President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Americans not to gather with extended families for Thanksgiving, saying it was a “patriotic duty” to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Biden said during an at times campaign-like speech in Wilmington, Del., that he and his family were setting an example by not celebrating the holiday as a large group.

“This year we are asking Americans to forgo so many of the traditions that we’ve long made this holiday,” Biden said. This year, because we care so much for each other, we’re going to be having a separate Thanksgiving for Jill and I, who will be at our home in Delaware with our daughter and our son-in-law. The rest of the family will be doing the same thing in small groups,” Biden said.

“I know how hard it is to forgo family traditions. But it is so very important. Our country’s in the middle of a dramatic spike in cases. We are now averaging 160,000 new cases a day.”