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Donald Trump & Joe Biden Have Something In Common

by Alex Gladu

One is Republican, one is Democrat. One is a candidate, one has already been elected. It's safe to say that Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and Vice President Joe Biden have little in common in their professional lives, but on Sunday they were scheduled to share a common experience in their personal lives. Both Trump and Biden will attend the University of Pennsylvania's graduation ceremony, celebrating two of the women in their lives.

Tiffany Trump, the businessman-turned-politician's daughter with his second wife, Marla Maples, will graduate with her bachelor's degree from Penn's College of Arts and Sciences on Sunday evening. Meanwhile, Naomi Biden, the vice president's granddaughter, will also graduate from the same program. The elder Trump and Biden were both expected to attend the departmental graduation ceremony on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in Philadelphia. The university said on its website that security would be heightened due to the VIP attendees, requiring all those in attendance to pass through airport-style security checks. Neither Biden nor Trump will get a stage to make their party's case for the election, though. Bill Shore, a 1977 graduate of the university and founder of an anti-hunger nonprofit, was scheduled to speak at the College's ceremony, which precedes the university-wide ceremony scheduled for Monday.

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Trump's daughter appears to have led a life typical of a millennial one-percenter. She was primarily raised in Los Angeles by her mother, but she often vacationed at her father's resorts and she has taken up the role of supportive political daughter on the campaign trail. She reportedly studied sociology and law at Penn.

Meanwhile, Biden's granddaughter has probably never felt far from the enhanced security — and scrutiny — that comes with a political family. The vice president has been known to frequent Philadelphia hot-spots, particularly when Naomi's birthday rolls around. The veep's granddaughter has also accompanied him on multiple diplomatic trips, including a trip to Turkey back in January.

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For the Trump family, Penn's Philadelphia campus is familiar territory. The Donald graduated from Penn's Wharton School of Business in 1968. Trump's oldest son and daughter, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, both graduated from the same school. If Tiffany continues to follow in her family's footsteps, she could become the latest Trump to join the family's empire, The Trump Organization.

With both the presumptive Republican nominee and the Democratic vice president in the audience, Penn's College of Arts and Sciences graduation was expected to be a somewhat awkward but otherwise non-political event. It probably helps that Trump has all but secured the GOP's nomination and Biden has opted not to run for his party's own nomination. Who knows, perhaps they'll even turn it into a bipartisan affair.