Bidens ask Americans to 'stop the rancor' and treat each other with 'decency' in Thanksgiving message

Prior to the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden called into NBC News to make a push for Americans to come together.

This Thanksgiving marks Biden's third as president, and he faces perhaps the toughest political climate of his administration. One half of Congress was paralyzed by partisan bickering for weeks, the opposition party is currently in thrall to a former president currently facing 91 felony counts in three separate jurisdictions and the latest polls show Biden in a statistical tie with his 2020 rival. NBC News reported that the Bidens called into weather reporter Al Roker's broadcast with an "upbeat" Thanksgiving message focused on national unity.

"We have to come together,” Biden said. “We can have different political views, but we have one view. The one view is that we’re the finest, greatest nation in the world. We should focus on that.”

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

"We should focus on dealing with our problems and being together and stop the rancor," he continued. "We have to bring the nation together and treat each other with a little bit of decency, and I think that’s where the vast majority of the American people are."

The president delivered the remarks from Nantucket Island, which his family has visited every Thanksgiving since 1975. NBC News reported that Biden was spending Thanksgiving 2023 at the home of billionaire David Rubenstein, who is co-founder of the private equity firm Carlyle Group Inc. Biden has spent the holiday brokering a hostage exchange in Israel, in which Israel is releasing 150 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 50 captives taken by Hamas during the October 7 attack. Both sides have temporarily halted fighting, though the Israel Defense Force (IDF) said it would not be stopping its war effort against Hamas.

While speaking to Al Roker, First Lady Jill Biden asked all Americans to "commit an act of kindness today."

"Call someone and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving or do something kind," she said.

READ MORE: Study shows how to talk politics and be civil during Thanksgiving dinner