Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States Wednesday, ending the Trump era with a call for national unity. Speaking on the steps of a Capitol building that just two weeks prior was mobbed by a group of right-wing extremists trying to overturn the election, President Biden said the U.S. faces an unprecedented combination of challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, mass unemployment, racial injustice, white supremacist violence and the existential threat of climate change. And he warned against the spread of lies — in a thinly veiled reference to the Trump administration’s constant stream of falsehoods over the past four years.

President Joe Biden: “Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. There is truth, and there are lies, lies told for power and for profit. And each of us has a duty and a responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders — leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation — to defend the truth and defeat the lies.”