A spirited President Joe Biden delivered a fiery, partisan State of the Union address Thursday, fitting for an election year with enormous stakes in a divided nation.
“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy here at home been under such attack as they are today,” Biden said at the start of the speech.
“What makes our moment so rare is that freedom and democracy are under simultaneous attack at home and abroad,” he said.
“Overseas, [President Vladimir] Russia’s Putin is on the rise, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos across Europe and beyond. “If anyone in this room thinks that Putin is going to stop at Ukraine, I assure you he won’t,” the president said to cheers from Democrats and applause from some Republicans.
“My message to President Putin is simple: we will not go away. We won’t bow down. “I will not bow down,” Biden said.
The president also celebrated Sweden’s entry into NATO earlier in the day, as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson sat to the left of first lady Jill Biden in her guest box.
U.S. First Lady Jill Biden sits next to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, March 7, 2024.
Almond Ngan | Afp | Getty Images
On domestic policy, Biden has been even more confrontational than on foreign policy, repeatedly denouncing Republicans and sparring on live television with some of the loudest voices in the GOP caucus.
As a group of conservative Supreme Court justices sat just feet away from him, Biden criticized them for overturning the reproductive rights enshrined in Roe vs. Wade.
“In their decision, Roe v. In overturning Wade, the Supreme Court majority wrote that ‘women are not without … electoral or political power,'” Biden said.
Then he paused and said to them, “You’ll soon realize how much.” With that, the Democrats in the room jumped to their feet, clapping and cheering.
Biden also ran neck-and-neck with Republicans over border security legislation.
“In November, my team began serious negotiations with a bipartisan group of senators. The result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest border security reforms we have ever seen in this country,” Biden said.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., yells at U.S. President Joe Biden as he delivers the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, March 7, 2024.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
As Republicans booed the bill, which they had approved in the Senate but then died in the House, Biden turned to the left, where Republican members sat.
“Oh, you don’t believe that? You don’t like this bill, do you? Damn, that’s amazing,” he said.
“This bipartisan deal would add 1,500 more border patrol agents and officers, as well as 100 more immigration judges, to address a backlog of 2 million cases.”
Biden repeatedly responded to interruptions and boos from Republicans in real time with jokes and taunts that seemed to disarm them.
Overall, the speech was a clear and effective attempt to convey to the public and his party that he is a candidate ready to fight in November.
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2024-03-09 17:58:21
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