WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – – President Joe Biden turned his State of the Union speech Thursday night into an animated argument for a 2nd term as he laced into GOP front-runner Donald Trump for embracing "retribution, revenge and bitterness" and endangering liberty at home and abroad.
It wasn't a normal State of the Union address, nevertheless. His speech from your house rostrum, provided just 8 months before Biden represents reelection, was something of an on-the-job interview for the country's oldest president as he attempts to quell citizen issues about his age and job efficiency while honing the contrast with his all-but-certain November rival. Raising his voice, he provided a broadside versus his predecessor for not standing by American allies abroad and for welcoming antidemocratic concepts in the U.S
. The scrappy tone from Biden was a sharp break from his typically humdrum day-to-day appearances and was created to get rid of doubts about whether the 81-year-old president, the country's oldest ever, is still as much as the job.
For 68 minutes in your house chamber, Biden goaded Republicans over their policies on migration, taxes and more, invited call-and-response small talk with fellow Democrats and appeared to delight in the fight.
Biden started his speech by pledging to continue opposition to Russia's intrusion of Ukraine and toward revisionism around the January 6 insurrection, which Biden alerted, "History is seeing" how the U.S. reacts to these issues.
" You can't love your nation only when you win," Biden said. He stated he faults the GOP with attempting to "bury the reality" about Jan. 6, stating that the "hazard to democracy" should be countered.
The president also came out swinging with a strong message toward the GOP and those who "commemorate" the overturning of Roe v. Wade, stating that the appeal of Roe v. Wade has actually been proven in Democrat-winning elections ever since and will be shown in 2024.
US VP Kamala Harris, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, in your home Chamber ahead of a State of the Union address at the United States Capitol in
Washington, DC, United States, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. (Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg through Getty Images).
" Women are not without political or electoral power," Biden said. "You are about to understand just how much. Those extoling overturning Roe v. Wade will find out.".
On Thursday night, the president was welcomed by the new leader of your home, Speaker Mike Johnson, who has been a major critic of the Biden administration, especially the economy.
Because vein, the president showcased his achievements on facilities and manufacturing, and pressed Congress to approve more help to Ukraine, tougher migration guidelines and lower drug prices. He likewise sought to remind voters of the situation he acquired when he entered office in 2021 amid a raving pandemic and a contracting economy.
Taking a success lap in offering his legal accomplishments, such as one that strengthens manufacturing of computer system chips across the country, Biden veered from his prepared script to take a dig at Republicans who voted against such policies but are eager to take credit for them back home.
" If any of you don't want that cash in your districts," Biden said, "just let me understand.".
White House assistants said Biden was aiming to show his skeptics wrong by flashing his combative side and attempting to needle Republicans over positions he thinks run out step with the country, especially on access to abortion, however also tax policy and healthcare. It's part of his campaign-year effort to use even main speeches to clarify the option for citizens at the ballot box this fall.
Biden also railed versus the expansion of gun violence in the U.S., stating he means to propose a ban on assault rifles and high capacity publications. The president referred to words by "his predecessor" former Pres. Donald Trump-- who Biden never pointed out by name-- saying that rather of informing Americans to "just overcome it," as Trump recently said after a shooting in Iowa, that he, Biden, plans to "stop it.".
Among the most contentious minutes of his speech came throughout his remarks on migration, when Biden was diminishing the recommendations by conservative groups of the bipartisan border legislation that Republicans killed last month.
Some in the audience appeared to insert and shout, and Biden shot back, "I know you know how to read.".
As Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, decked out in pro-Trump stuff, continued to shout at Biden, the president held up a white button that the Georgia Republican had actually handed him earlier bearing the name of Laken Riley, who authorities say was killed by a Venezuelan national who unlawfully crossed into the U.S. in September 2022.
Biden appeared excited to engage with his critics. "Say her name," Greene yelled at the president. "Laken Riley," Biden responded, calling her an "innocent girl who was killed by an unlawful." He revealed condolences to her household, saying his heart heads out to them.
Alabama Senator Katie Britt gave the main Republican response later on Thursday night, lambasting the Biden administration for what she calls "welcoming" a southern border crisis. Though Britt also talked about the economy, saying that "Bidenomics aren't working.".
" We've become a nation in retreat," Britt said.
Biden entered the speech with work to do fortifying his standing. Just 38% of U.S. grownups authorize of how he is handling his task as president, while 61% disapprove, according to a current study by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The very same survey discovered that more than 6 in 10 (63%) say they're not really or not at all confident in Biden's psychological ability to serve successfully as president. A similar however somewhat smaller share (57%) say that Trump does not have the memory and acuity for the task.
The currently intense examination of Biden's age was magnified when unique counsel Robert Hur raised questions about the president's psychological acuity in his report last month on Biden's handling of categorized information. Hur is set to affirm Tuesday before legislators about his examination.
Following the speech, Biden was set for a weekend of campaign travel, holding occasions in Pennsylvania on Friday and Georgia on Saturday. Trump, too, will be campaigning in Georgia that day. The president's Cabinet likewise will fan out across the country to enhance his message.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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