Hello folks. Many of you might recall that Biden inauguration ceremonies had some significant oddities, particularly with the gun salute. Today, I want to clarify information that I uncovered about the gun salute Biden received, because most discussion around it is false.
TLDR: Biden received a 21 gun salute with a 9 second firing interval consistent with Arlington National Cemetery policy for an arriving head-of-state.
I'm highlighting this information because many have said that Biden:
1) Didn't receive a 21 gun salute,
2) Received a salute for a deceased President, or
3) Received a salute for a foreign head of state.
I will clearly demonstrate all three of those claims are incorrect.
First, here is a video fully documenting a 21 gun salute for a presidential inauguration (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFX_7IR91Vk). Note that the calling officer commands "a 21 gun salute, 3 second interval," and such is then executed. Videos of presidential inaugurations going back decades all show a 21 gun salute with a 3 second interval. With this established as the baseline, let's move to the claims.
The first claim is that Biden didn't receive a 21 gun salute. Here is the full video of the Biden inauguration (https://youtu.be/39vj3oALMDM). As indicated by the military officers, the first shot of gun salute is fired at roughly 5:25:56 in the video, and the final shot of the gun salute is fired at roughly 5:28:57. The total duration of the gun salute is approximately 3:03 minutes or 183 seconds. If you count the number of shots, 21 are fired. So, Biden did indeed receive a 21 gun salute, any claim that he received less is false.
The second claim is that Biden received a salute for a deceased President. At George H.W. Bush's state funeral (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDlM8PHjxgE), shots were fired from approximately 35:17 to 36:54 with five second intervals. They are slightly difficult to hear, but he did receive 21 shots over roughly 97 seconds. Similarly, at Jimmy Carter's state funeral (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izOKazf4XkU), shots were fired form approximately 15:34 to 17:10 with five second intervals. He received 21 shots over roughly 96 seconds.
The third claim is that Biden received a salute for a foreign dignitary. The foreign dignitary angle appears to originate from this Reddit post (https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/l55qus/i_did_some_more_digging_on_the_21_gun_salute_the/). However, what the poster claims is a 21 gun salute with a 10 second interval for a foreign dignitary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhyKIdc5K1g) is actually a 19 gun salute with 9 second intervals. Don't believe it? At 0:23, the officer calls for a "19 gun salute, 9 second interval."
From what I can find, it IS true that a foreign head of state will receive a 21 gun salute. Biden did receive a 21 gun salute which lasted for approximately 183 seconds. From that, the firing interval should be 9 seconds, and that matches the inauguration video. The question remains: why 9 seconds?
Crucially, the Army itself states the 9 second interval was determined by trial-and-error to ensure the last shot of a 21 gun salute rings out when a visiting motorcade arrives at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (https://www.army.mil/article/263005/presidential_salute_battery_honors_dignitaries_and_events). This interval is not reserved for a foreign leader but for ANY motorcade. In this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caLAda1_Uas), President Trump's motorcade received a 21 gun salute with a 9 second interval. That should put to rest that Biden's gun salute specifically signified he was a foreign head-of-state.
Biden received a 21 gun salute with a 9 second interval solely because he visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as a head-of-state, foreign or otherwise. That's all there is to THAT element. However, what is true is that, unlike all prior inaugurations, Biden did not receive a 21 gun salute with a 3 second interval immediately after taking the oath of office, yet earlier that day, Trump DID receive that exact salute earlier in the day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK8QdtqGXiI).
Visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by a newly-inaugurated President is itself a unique circumstance, and I believe that was used as a cover to ensure Biden did receive a 21 gun salute of some kind. What matters MUCH MUCH more is that Trump received the actual presidential salute.