Former Alabama U.S. Sen. Doug Jones and his wife, Louise, were on hand for today’s inauguration ceremony, and Jones called it “a magnificent display of unity, optimism and, most importantly, hope.”

“It was also a powerful demonstration of the strength of our democracy and the resiliency of the American people,” Jones said on Twitter.

A longtime friend of President Joe Biden and a former U.S. attorney for Alabama’s Northern District, Jones won a special election in 2017 for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Republican Jeff Sessions when he became then-President Donald Trump’s first attorney general. In November, Jones lost a bid for a full Senate term to Republican challenger and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville.

Jones tweeted earlier this week that he will be a spring 2021 fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service.

“I’ll be discussing ‘Justice in America: Bridging the Divides,’” Jones said. “We’ll examine the relation between our divides and injustice, and how bridging those divides can bring about lasting change.”