Biden uses feisty speech to contrast with Trump
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden turned his State of the Union speech Thursday night into an animated argument for a second term as he laced into GOP front-runner Donald Trump for espousing “resentment, revenge and retribution.”
Over and over, Biden delivered broadsides at “my predecessor” without mentioning Trump by name, raising his voice as he tried to quell voter concerns about his age and job performance while sharpening the contrast with his all-but-certain November rival.
It was a far different — and feistier tone — from Biden than in his previous State of the Union address, and it was designed to banish doubts about whether the 81-year-old is still up to the job. Biden goaded Republicans over their policies, invited call-and-response banter with fellow Democrats on economic issues, taxes and healthcare and seemed to revel in the fight.
“Freedom and democracy are under attack both at home and overseas at the very same time,” Biden said as he appealed for Congress to support Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. “History is watching.”
Biden quickly pivoted to the threats at home, referencing the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the 2020 election, and calling for the threat to democracy to be countered.
“My predecessor — and some of you here — seek to bury the truth about Jan. 6 — I will not do that,” Biden said. “This is a moment to speak the truth and to bury the lies. Here’s a simple truth. You can’t love your country only when you win.”
The president took credit
for alleged gains in infrastructure and manufacturing, and pushed Congress to approve more aid to Ukraine, tougher migration rules and lower drug prices. He also sought to remind voters of the situation he inherited when he entered office in 2021 amid a raging pandemic and a contracting economy.
The 81-year-old president was being closely watched not just for his message, but for whether he could deliver it with vigor and command.
White House aides said Biden was aiming to prove his doubters wrong by flashing his combative side and trying to needle Republicans over positions he believes are out of step with the country, particularly on access to abortion, but also tax policy and healthcare. It’s part of his campaign-year effort to use even official speeches to clarify the choice for voters at the ballot box this fall.
Taking a victory lap in selling his legislative accomplishments, such as one that bolsters manufacturing of computer chips nationwide, 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 money in your districts,” Biden said, “just let me know.”
Biden aides inside the White House and on his campaign had hoped for some fresh viral moments — like when he tussled last year with heckling Republicans and chided them for past efforts to cut Medicare and Social Security.
Johnson, eager to avoid
a similar episode this year, urged Republicans in a private meeting Wednesday to show “decorum” during the speech, according to a person familiar with his remarks to lawmakers.
He appeared to have limited success. A number of House Republicans began to stand up and leave the chamber as Biden discussed raising taxes on billionaires and corporations. Other, like Johnson, remained in their chairs and shook their heads.
Biden engaged in a loud call and response with lawmakers
as he rhetorically questioned whether the tax code was fair and whether billionaires and corporations need “another $2 trillion in tax breaks,” as he charged Republicans want.
One of the most contentious moments of his speech came during his remarks on immigration, when Biden was running down alleged endorsements by conservative groups of the bipartisan border legislation that Republicans killed last month.
Some in the audience appeared to yell and interject, and Biden shot back, “I know you know how to read.”
As Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, decked out in protrump paraphernalia, continued to shout at Biden, the president held up a white button that the Georgia Republican had 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 seemed eager to engage with his critics. “Say her name,” Greene yelled
at the president. “Laken Riley,” Biden responded, mispronouncing her name as “Lincoln Riley,” and called her an “innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal.” He expressed condolences to her family, saying his heart goes out to them.
And congressional Republican leaders were showcasing one of their newest lawmakers through the State of the Union rebuttal in order to make a generational contrast with Biden. Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, the youngest Republican woman elected to the Senate, painted a picture of a nation that “seems to be slipping away” and one where “our families are hurting.”
She called Biden a “career politician who has been in office longer than I’ve been alive.”
“Right now, our commander-in-chief is not in command. The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader,” Britt said. “America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders, stable prices, safe streets, and a strong defense are actually the cornerstones of a great nation.”