In a pointy and combative speech, President Joe Biden used his annual State of the Union tackle to Congress to successfully kick-start the overall election and go on the assault in opposition to his presumptive opponent, former President Donald Trump.
Biden threw intense partisan elbows at Republicans all through his speech, sparring with GOP lawmakers from the rostrum once they jeered him. But Biden aimed most immediately at Trump — who he referred to solely as “my predecessor” — criticizing the insurance policies he’d enacted as president and his inflammatory statements on the marketing campaign path.
Presidents have traditionally shied away from such political shows throughout previous State of the Union addresses, however this second is completely different. No president has confronted his predecessor in a re-election match since 1892, earlier than the State of the Union was delivered in particular person.
“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today,” Biden mentioned Thursday. “What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack, both at home and overseas, at the very same time.”
Biden went on to ship what sounded extra like a conference acceptance speech than a State of the Union. There was the standard laundry record of coverage proposals and shout-outs to guests emblematic of an essential administration coverage or social gathering faction. But what stood out on this speech was the way it laid out the stakes for the election — how, to Biden, Trump is as a lot a foe of the United States of America as any international adversary.
Republicans Put On The Defensive
From the bounce, Biden put Republicans on the defensive. He launched right into a name for Congress to move laws offering extra navy funding for Ukraine — one thing that splits Republicans — earlier than attacking Trump for deserting the legacy of GOP standard-bearer Ronald Reagan.
“It wasn’t that long ago when a Republican President, Ronald Reagan, thundered, ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,’” Biden mentioned. “Now, my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, ‘Do whatever the hell you want.’”
He then pivoted to calling out Republicans’ conduct after the revolt on Jan. 6, 2021. The majority of the House Republican caucus voted to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election in Arizona and Pennsylvania, and plenty of, together with some in House GOP management, now consult with insurrectionists sentenced to jail as “hostages.”
“This is a moment to speak the truth and bury the lies,” Biden mentioned. “And here’s the simplest truth: You can’t love your country only when you win.”
And Biden continued. He known as for Congress to move protections for in vitro fertilization, after the conservative Alabama Supreme Court declared embryos to be legally equal to youngsters final month — a ruling that was made doable by the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. He touted his insurance policies to chop prescription drug costs, which Trump had didn’t do as president, and known as for slashing costs on lots of extra medicine. He referenced the roads, bridges and different infrastructure now being constructed because of the bipartisan infrastructure regulation handed earlier in his time period. And he ribbed Republicans — who largely voted in opposition to that invoice — for cheering for the spending of their districts.
“If any of you don’t want that money in your district, just let me know,” he mentioned, trying on the GOP facet of the room.
Biden even took time to trash discuss the conservatives on the Supreme Court for his or her resolution overturning the fitting to an abortion.
“In its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court majority wrote — and with all due, respect justices — ‘women are not without electoral or political power,’” Biden mentioned whereas staring down the justices in attendance, as Democrats cheered. “You’re about to realize how right you’ve been about that.”
Trump Set A Low Bar For Biden’s Speech — And He Cleared It With Ease
Leading as much as the State of the Union, a Trump-affiliated tremendous PAC launched a brand new advert suggesting that Biden, who’s 81, would die in workplace if re-elected. This, together with the Republican Party’s continued efforts to solid Biden as affected by dementia, set the bar fairly low for Biden’s efficiency throughout Thursday’s speech. All he needed to do was not die (or disintegrate into mud, as The Onion joked).
Biden clearly exceeded these expectations.
The president has confronted rising assaults from Republicans and issues from Democrats over his age because the 2024 marketing campaign ramps up. A report from particular prosecutor Robert Hur exonerating Biden for holding onto categorized paperwork solid a highlight on the age challenge in January by describing the president as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
Unable to assault Biden as a demented senior citizen following a full of life speech, Republicans went after him for being too energetic.
“Everyone is going to remember how weirdly amped up he is and how bizarrely fast he’s speaking,” Fox News contributor and former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer posted on social media.
“This is the loudest State of the Union speech I can remember,” GOP pollster Frank Luntz posted. “Let’s see whether undecided voters like being yelled at.”
After the speech concluded, Biden remained within the chamber, glad-handing Democratic lawmakers lengthy after the lights had been dimmed.
Biden’s Pitch To Young Voters
Although the youth vote tends to skew Democratic, polls present smooth assist for the president amongst voters underneath 35 — and in some circumstances, even have him trailing Trump with this key demographic.
Biden spoke on to these voters when he touted insurance policies that can affect youthful generations, together with the chief actions he has taken to forgive some pupil loans, regardless of court docket ruling stopping him from enacting extra sweeping debt reduction.
“I fixed two student loan programs that already existed to reduce the burden of student debt for nearly 4 million Americans,” he mentioned.
More importantly, Biden outlined plans to handle different prime issues of youthful voters. He introduced that he was laying the groundwork to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana — a change, he mentioned, would end result within the expungement of “thousands of convictions for the mere possession [of marijuana], because no one should be jailed for simply using or have it on their record.”
Young persons are additionally struggling to afford lease, not to mention save sufficient to purchase a house. On that entrance, Biden promoted accomplishments that he mentioned can have the impact of lowering dwelling prices, and known as on Republicans to move his invoice to construct extra houses.
“We’ve cut red tape so builders can get federal financing, which is already helping build a record 1.7 million new housing units nationwide,” he mentioned. “Now pass my plan to build and renovate 2 million affordable homes and bring those rents down!”
“To the leadership of Israel, I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration, or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.”
– President Joe Biden
No challenge has proved extra vexing for Biden amongst younger voters — and particularly younger progressives — than U.S.-Israel coverage since Israel’s invasion of Gaza. The Biden administration has largely supported Israel’s navy marketing campaign, which has thus far killed some 30,000 Palestinians, with few limitations.
In his remarks, Biden reiterated his view that Israel has a proper to defend itself in opposition to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which attacked Israel and killed 1,200 individuals on Oct. 7, and Israel’s efforts to search out Hamas fighters have been made tougher by Hamas’ operation in civilian areas.
Still, he insisted that Israel has a “fundamental responsibility … to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.”
Without saying so explicitly, he implied that Israel has not taken that job severely, describing in vivid element the “heartbreaking” humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza. Biden then laid out his plan for the United States navy to determine a makeshift port off the coast of Gaza to ship emergency support to the area’s besieged residents.
“To the leadership of Israel, I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority,” he mentioned. “As we look to the future, the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution over time.”
Progressive skeptics will observe Biden has mentioned comparable issues earlier than, and Israel has promptly ignored him. They need Biden to make use of American leverage over Israel, comparable to by limiting navy support or weapons gross sales.
Biden Ad-Libbed A Response To Marjorie Taylor Greene – And Things Got Weird
In the center of Biden’s riff taunting Republicans for rejecting a bipartisan immigration deal that might’ve beefed up border enforcement, a significant GOP precedence, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) yelled on the podium. She known as out the title of Laken Riley, a University of Georgia pupil discovered lifeless final month. Jose Antonio Ibarra, a migrant from Venezuela who crossed the border illegally in 2022, has been arrested on suspicion of her homicide.
Riley’s dying has change into a rallying cry for Republicans livid concerning the inflow of unauthorized migrants, and an instance of conservative fears concerning violence involving migrants. House Republicans handed the Laken Riley Act on Thursday, with the assist of some Democrats, that might require the Department of Homeland Security to take into custody any illegal migrant charged with theft or housebreaking. And earlier on Thursday night, Greene handed Biden a pin with Riley’s title on it as he entered the House chamber to ship his speech.
Biden responded to Greene’s interjection by holding up the pin and acknowledging the tragedy of Riley’s homicide with a alternative of phrases that raised some eyebrows on the left, not least as a result of he known as her “Lincoln Riley.” The substance of his message, nonetheless, was to downplay the hyperlink between undocumented immigrants and violent crime.
“Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed — by an illegal, that’s right,” he mentioned whereas holding up the pin. “But how many thousands of people, being killed by illegals? To her parents, I say: My heart goes out to you, having lost children myself. I understand.”
Biden then proceeded to make his case for a invoice that might pair harder enforcement with an expedited asylum screening course of, which he mentioned would cut back demand for unlawful smuggling.
“People pay these smugglers 8,000 bucks to get across the border, because they know if they get by, if they get by and let into the country, it’s six to eight years before they have a hearing, and it’s worth taking the chance with the $8,000,” he mentioned. “But if it’s only six months — six weeks, the idea is, it’s highly unlikely that people pay that money and go all that way, knowing that they’ll be able to be kicked out quickly.”
Biden Made Age An Asset With Mix Of Sincerity And Jokes
Rather than ignore doubts about his age and health, Biden addressed the difficulty head on.
“When you get to be my age, certain things become clearer than ever. I know the American story,” he mentioned in the direction of the top of the speech. “Again and again, I’ve seen the contest between competing forces in the battle for the soul of our nation, between those who want to pull America back to the past and those who want to move America to the future.”
Biden — born throughout World War II, and a younger grownup when Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy had been assassinated — mentioned these occasions formed his imaginative and prescient of a rustic whose values are “honesty, decency, dignity, equality, to respect everyone, to give everyone a fair shot [and] to give hate no safe harbor.”
Then he took a shot at Trump, noting that the 77-year-old former president is near Biden in age however radically completely different in worldview.
“Other people my age see it differently: The American story of resentment, revenge and retribution,” Biden mentioned. “That’s not me.”
Biden additionally recounted his lengthy journey to the presidency, which included his election to the Senate at age 29.
“In my career, I’ve been told I was too young,” Biden mentioned. “By the way, they didn’t let me on the Senate elevators for votes sometimes — not a joke.
“I’ve been told I’m too old,” he continued. “Whether young or old, I’ve always known what endures. I’ve known our North Star: The very idea of America is that we’re all created equal, and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. We’ve never fully lived up to that idea. But we’ve never walked away from it, either. And I won’t walk away from it now.”