‘Freedom … under assault at home’
In speech with big stakes at kickoff of general election campaign, Biden appeals to GOP but vows not to back down
President Joe Biden used his State of the Union address Thursday to launch a series of fiery attacks against former President Donald Trump, a competitor whom he did not mention by name but labeled as a dire threat to American democracy and stability in the world.
In a televised speech to a joint session of Congress, Biden brought the energy his allies and aides had hoped he would display to warn of what could happen should Ukraine continue to lose ground to Russia. Invoking an overseas war at the top of his address was an unusual introduction to a speech that was in many ways a political argument for his reelection.
“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today,” Biden said, raising his voice to a shout. “What makes our moment rare is the freedom of democracy, under attack both at home and overseas.”
Biden’s speech had to accomplish several goals at once, including taking credit for an economy that has outperformed expectations but whose effects many Americans say they cannot feel. He touched on a range of issues, including immigration, abortion, prescription drug costs and the war in the Gaza Strip.
He also engaged in a back-andforth with congressional Republicans, picking up a button circulated by Republicans that called for people to say the name of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was killed in February by, according to authorities, an immigrant who had entered the country illegally.
“To her parents, I say, my heart goes out to you. Having lost children myself, I understand,” he said at one point, going off script and addressing
Republicans by using the phrase “an illegal” to describe the accused, which is not the term preferred by his party.
He used his time in front of one of the biggest audiences he will have before the November election to tell Americans that personal freedoms, diplomatic relationships and democratic rule in the United States are at stake if Trump is reelected.
Biden assailed Trump for his soft treatment of President Vladimir Putin of Russia, whose troops invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. “If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop in Ukraine, I assure you he will not,” Biden said, warning that the world was watching the United States.
“We will not bow down,” Biden said. “I will not bow down.”
He called out the former president’s behavior, including Trump’s lies that Biden had stolen the 2020 election from him. “You can’t love your country only when you win,” Biden said.
Trump, never one to sit quietly, responded to many of Biden’s points in a stream of real-time posts on his social media site, Truth Social. “Putin only invaded Ukraine, because he has no respect for Biden,” he asserted in one post.
Before the speech, Biden was under pressure to address the issue of his age. He argued that his 81 years had taught him to “embrace freedom and democracy” and “to give hate no safe harbor,” remarks meant to address concerns about his age and draw a clear contrast with Trump.
“Now some other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge and retribution. That’s not me,” Biden said — a clear jab at his predecessor, who is four years younger and whose victory speech after Super Tuesday primary elections portended a dark future for America, a country he referred to as “third world.”
Biden also tried to quell dissatisfaction within his own party over his handling of the conflict in Gaza. Earlier Thursday, the Biden administration said the United States would build a temporary seaport off Gaza to assist with the delivery of humanitarian aid. The Israel-Hamas war has become a serious vulnerability for Biden, as United Nations officials warn that famine is imminent in Gaza and progressive voters of the Democratic Party are deeply angry with Biden’s support for Israel.
“Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the crossfire,” Biden said. “To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip.”
Biden focused extensively on reproductive rights, which have become among the most galvanizing issues for his party. Republicans cheered the Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had established a constitutional right to abortion, but the party has been hurt in state elections since. Several women invited by the White House or Democratic lawmakers on Thursday evening had suffered life-threatening medical complications during pregnancies.
“Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women,” Biden said. “But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and we won in 2022, 2023, and we’ll win again in 2024.”
The president’s support for legal access to abortion is one of the most significant political shifts Biden has made since he was a candidate for the presidency in 2020, when he told supporters that he was “not big on abortion” because of his Catholic faith. On Thursday, he promised, as he has before, to restore Roe’s protections, which will be difficult to do without a sizable majority in Congress.
Before the speech, Biden’s advisers described a president who was energized and ready to meet the high-pressure moment, which came as polls showed widespread concern over his age and growing frustration with his performance. On Thursday, Biden ribbed Republicans at several points, including when he said that they had enjoyed taking credit for federal investments that they had voted against. At one point, a lawmaker yelled, “Lies,” as Biden spoke.
In recent polls, Democratic voters have signaled their displeasure with what they see as Biden’s inability or unwillingness to manage the war in Gaza. The share of Americans who view immigration as the biggest problem faced by the United States has risen in recent months, and a surge of immigrants crossing the border illegally has put the Biden administration on the defensive as the campaign gets underway.
Although inflation has come down and the job market has outperformed expectations, the data has done little to overcome a pervasive belief among many Americans that they simply are not better off than they were before. The Biden administration announced a plan Thursday to lower housing costs for working families, and he explained how his economic policies had benefited families.
“It doesn’t make the news, but in thousands of cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told,” Biden said.
Within his economic message were hints about what Biden would do with a second term, including an effort to increase corporate taxes to at least 21% so, he said, “every big corporation finally begins to pay their fair share.” Such an initiative would be unlikely to succeed unless Democrats manage to hold the Senate and take back the House.
Despite his attempts to reframe the issue, Biden’s age continues to be an attack line for Republicans. The super PAC backing Trump began the day by airing a spot about Biden’s age and abilities, asking whether he could survive for another four years, on cable stations including MSNBC during Morning Joe, one of the president’s favorite shows.
The speech was a high-stakes appearance for Biden, who is trailing behind Trump by 5 percentage points, according to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll. Both men are unpopular, but Trump holds enormous influence over a far-right faction of House Republicans who defied members of their own party in rejecting a bill that would restrict immigration into the United States, saying it was not conservative enough.
The 20 guests who joined Jill Biden, the first lady, to watch the address were all invited to draw sharp distinctions with Republicans as the president sought to highlight his achievements and press his advantage on issues including reproductive rights, prescription drug prices, and furthering Western diplomacy.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden, which joined the NATO alliance on Thursday, was also in the chamber.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had his own guest list, highlighting people connected to issues that Republicans believe are vulnerabilities for Democrats, including crime, the opioid epidemic and immigration. He also invited Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, the parents of Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who has been imprisoned in Russia since last March.
Last weekend at Camp David, the president practiced for several days for his speech. On Thursday night, after days of breathless coverage of about how he would seem during this speech, he took his time as he entered the chamber, stopping to take selfies with supporters.
At one point, he encountered Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who heckled Biden during his speech last year. He made a face at her and continued down the aisle.
At different points in his speech, Biden appeared relaxed, to the point that he ad-libbed about Snickers bars and potato chip bags, and engaged in a back-and-forth with Republicans over tax breaks.