The solidarity that President-elect Joe Biden called for in a speech on Wednesday feels like a distant dream compared to the state of affairs in Washington, where Trump digs deeper into his bunker.

Giuliani turned up anyway and Trump called in, his ravings audible via a speakerphone pressed up to a microphone.

The President attacked the courts, which have almost unanimously dismissed his outlandish claims, Democrats, with still more plainly absurd lies, and called -- on whom, it was hard to say -- to overturn the election results.

A few hours later, he issued a pardon to loyalist Michael Flynn, his briefly tenured national security adviser who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about conversations with Russia's then-ambassador.

Afterward, Trump invited the Pennsylvania Republicans to the White House for a West Wing meeting, two sources told CNN.

"This is the moment where we need to steel our spines, redouble our efforts and recommit ourselves to the fight."

As he did during the campaign, Biden channeled his own grief -- at the loss of his first wife and infant daughter in 1972, and his son's death from brain cancer a little more than five years ago -- in a bid to soothe mourning Americans.

"It's really hard to care," Biden said of the breathtaking sight of an "empty chair" where a loved one once sat.

"It's hard to give thanks.

It's hard to even think of looking forward, and it's so hard to hope.

Know that when @JoeBiden and I are in the White House, we'll fight food insecurity and address this crisis."

"No one should go hungry in America," she added.

A Washington Post survey of Census Bureau data from late October and early November found that food insecurity growing at a terrifying pace.

Jonathan Reiner, a former White House medical team adviser, told CNN this week.

In the shadow of those daunting statistics and dire warnings, the White House issued a proclamation from the President touting the "service and sacrifice" of "first responders, medical professionals, essential workers, neighbors and countless other patriots."

He then proceeded to promote behavior that would further endanger them all.

"I encourage all Americans to gather," Trump said, "in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings."