Takeaways from Joe Biden’s State of the Union address
As he approaches reelection, President Joe Biden gave a boisterous third State of the Union address, maybe one of his most significant speeches to date.
His list of goals was lengthy: highlight his achievements while in office, discuss his plans for a second term, assuage worries about his age and health, and draw comparisons with Republicans, particularly his opponent Donald Trump.
The outcome was an intense speech that didn’t sound anything like his previous States of the Union speeches. Biden’s advisors hope that his sharp political address will allay Democratic concerns about his political future. Biden was determined to show off his vitality and wanted to interact with Republicans.
One of the largest television audiences the president will have all year is for the State of the Union address. These are six noteworthy events that you may have missed.
Biden urges assistance for Ukraine
In his opening statement, Biden stated, “This is no ordinary moment.” He compared it to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s State of the Union address from January 1941, when “freedom and democracy were under assault” and America was at war.
More than two years after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, Biden said it was imperative that the United States support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. A bipartisan bill to aid Ukraine is presently sitting in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives; he also urged Congress to support it.
Biden challenges Trump
Even though Biden did not mention his predecessor by name, it was clear that Trump was the focal point of this year’s State of the Union address, which made it more politically charged.
It was symbolic of the unique political era that Biden is living in, one in which the political conventions of previous decades—which Biden has publicly expressed a desire for—have essentially been overturned.
The president made several jabs at Trump; in his planned speech, he mentioned “my predecessor” thirteen times. This gave Biden the opportunity to exploit the bully pulpit, which is one benefit of being in office.
Credit: Getty Images
A commitment to establish reproductive rights and a spotlight on them Rosie
Throughout his speech, Biden didn’t use the word “abortion” once. But the speech’s main theme was reproductive rights. Kate Cox, a Texas woman whose fetus was identified with a genetic disease nearly invariably deadly, was one of his guests. She was compelled to travel out of state for the abortion. Another was Latorya Beasley, Alabaman whose IVF procedures were put on hold following the state Supreme Court’s decision to declare frozen embryos to be legitimate children.
“If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose,” he said, he will honor the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling, which established the right to an abortion before it was overturned in 2022, in federal law.
Biden gives a rambling, erratic speech
State of the Union addresses are frequently formal events with predetermined agendas of directives and suggestions. On Thursday, however, that was not the case, as Biden repeatedly deviated from the plan to play to Republicans. The outcome was the most boisterous State of the Union in recent memory, with the House chamber full of election-year fervor.
The president’s easy banter with Republicans over immigration, Social Security, and taxation undoubtedly gave him more energy during his speech. After last year’s speech, when his back-and-forth with Republicans in the audience stood out, Biden seemed to have incorporated those moments into his speech.
Republicans and Biden argue about the border
Additionally, Biden urged Congress to bring back a bipartisan agreement that would have combined border protection with overseas aid. After Trump and House Republicans publicly opposed the plan, it collapsed. Subsequently, Biden and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene engaged in a back-and-forth on the death of University of Georgia student Laken Riley, who was killed last month. In relation to her demise, an unauthorized immigrant from Venezuela has been taken into custody.
Biden remarked in the exchange that Riley had been “killed by an illegal,” which infuriated progressives.
With a Uvalde youngster in attendance, Biden renews the demand for a ban on assault rifles. During his speech, Biden advocated for several gun measures, such as a prohibition on assault weapons and universal background checks.He did this while Jazmin Cazares sat in his box. Jackie, her 9-year-old sister, was slain during a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Credit: Getty Images
The president persuasively argues in favor of US leadership overseas
When it comes to foreign policy, State of the Union speeches normally take a backseat as Congress and the American people are the speeches’ main audience, and their issues are primarily domestic in nature.
But Biden is the president of foreign policy during a period of intense tensions across the world for reasons that are not totally under his control. The future of US support for the Russia-Ukraine war is uncertain as it continues. Furthermore, the terror acts on October 7 have sparked Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which has resulted in a humanitarian crisis that is causing division within Biden’s political alliance.
Pity for Gazans, but not a long-term truce
Both party voters have expressed concerns about the president’s age. He winked and nodded tonight, acknowledging those worries, and saying, “I know it may not look like it, but I’ve been around a while.”
“As you get older, some things become more apparent than they were before,” he went on. My life has taught me to embrace democracy and freedom in the future, grounded in the fundamental principles that have made America great: equality, decency, honesty, and dignity. to treat everyone with dignity, to give them a fair chance, and to keep hate speech at bay.”
