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.
Hope this post gives you good ammunition to show your normie friends that there's something really fishy going on.