President Joe Biden warned in his State of the Union address that democracy is endangered at home and abroad, a threat made more immediate by the prospect of his predecessor Donald Trump returning to the White House.
With the two candidates headed toward a renewed showdown in November, Biden sought to seize the moment to define his reelection battle and reinvigorate his campaign with themes ranging from higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations and a defense of abortion rights to the risks posed by Russia and China.
But he began the speech with a denunciation of his likely election opponent. The president, who is trailing Trump in most polls, faces the challenge of convincing skeptical Americans he’s fit to serve another four years in the White House and lay out a second-term agenda.
“My purpose tonight is to both wake up this Congress and alert the American people that this is no ordinary time either,” Biden told lawmakers, dignitaries and other guests at the Capitol on Thursday. “Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today.”
Biden took aim squarely at Trump, criticizing him and Republicans for blocking aid to Ukraine and sympathizing with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He sought to shame Trump as an isolationist, comparing Ronald Reagan’s 1980s exhortation to a Soviet leader to open the Berlin Wall with Trump’s suggestion he would let Russia invade NATO allies that don’t meet defense-spending targets. Biden never mentioned Trump by name, referring only to his predecessor.
“It wasn’t that long ago when a Republican president, Ronald Reagan, thundered “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” Biden said. “Now, my predecessor – a former Republican President – tells Putin ‘Do whatever the hell you want. That’s a quote. A former American President actually said that – bowing down to a Russian leader. I think it’s outrageous. It’s dangerous. And it’s unacceptable.”
Biden sought to highlight his first-term accomplishments and called on Congress to take action on immigration, abortion rights, higher taxes on the wealthy and lower drug prices. He also criticized Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the refusal of congressional Republicans to authorize additional assistance for Ukraine.
The annual speech was a test for the president, 81, to demonstrate his acuity as more voters than ever are concerned about his age. More than eight in 10 respondents in a recent Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll of swing states said Biden is too old.
Trump leads Biden in seven swing states by 5 percentage points, the poll found.
During his speech, the president again sought to portray his age as a source of experience that will help him guide the country for another four years. He called out China’s “unfair economic practices,” renewed US support for Taiwan and reaffirmed his backing for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians “over time.”
Also Read: After Trump meet, Musk says he won't donate to either US presidential candidate
Biden highlighted the battle over abortion rights and women’s health care in an appeal to moderate voters. Guests of first lady Jill Biden includes a Texas woman who was denied an abortion even after her fetus was diagnosed with a terminal genetic disease, as well as an Alabama woman whose embryo transfer was canceled following a recent Alabama Supreme Court decision that led fertility clinics to shutter.
“Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America,” Biden said, referring to the previous Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing abortion rights that was overturned in 2022.
“If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again,” he said.
Biden scoffed at Republicans who booed his assertion that Trump’s tax cuts “exploded” the federal deficit, scowling at them and challenging them to “check the numbers.”
He also quipped that billionaires were making “great sacrifices” by paying an average federal tax of 8.2%, calling on Congress to make the minimum rate more than three times higher.
The president is also calling for a crackdown on insurance fees designed to lower housing prices. He’s asking Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate prices on more drugs, cap Medicare co-payments and to limit annual out-of-pocket drug prices to $2,000 a year, even for those on private insurance.
He criticized Republicans for abandoning an immigration bill after Trump urged them to torpedo it lest it give Biden a political win.
Also Read: US Presidential Election | Nikki Haley drops out — is Donald Trump out of the woods?
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene again walked Republicans into a trap, shouting the name of a woman from her state allegedly slain by an undocumented immigrant. Biden pulled out a pin bearing the woman’s name and acknowledged her family, then chided Republicans for blocking stronger border measures.
“We can fight about fixing the border. Or we can fix it,” Biden said.
Greene during last year’s State of the Union called Biden a “liar” and a back-and-forth with Republicans over entitlements morphed into a viral moment the president used to badger the GOP to drop calls for Social Security and Medicare cuts.
Trump offered live commentary on Biden’s speech using his social media platform. The former president has without evidence accused his successor of engineering the four criminal cases against him, including over his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election and his allegedly willful retention of classified material.
Looking Ahead
Senator Katie Britt, the Alabama Republican who is providing the Republican response to Biden’s address, is expected to make a reference to Biden’s age in her response. She’ll also criticize his policies on immigration, urban crime and the economy.
“The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader,” Britt plans to say. “America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders, stable prices, safe streets, and a strong defense are the cornerstones of a great nation.”
Biden also focused on so-called kitchen table issues, railing against junk fees by credit card companies and saying that he wanted to make homeownership more affordable even as he expects moderating inflation to eventually lower interest rates.
The president said he hoped to cut $3 trillion from the cumulative federal deficit over the next decade by raising taxes on corporations and the “very wealthy.”
Biden reiterated support for Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, while signaling heightened concern at the death and suffering in Gaza wrought by Israel’s military retaliation. He announced US plans to build a temporary pier to facilitate aid shipments, supplementing airdrops that began last week.
With the two candidates headed toward a renewed showdown in November, Biden sought to seize the moment to define his reelection battle and reinvigorate his campaign with themes ranging from higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations and a defense of abortion rights to the risks posed by Russia and China.
But he began the speech with a denunciation of his likely election opponent. The president, who is trailing Trump in most polls, faces the challenge of convincing skeptical Americans he’s fit to serve another four years in the White House and lay out a second-term agenda.
“My purpose tonight is to both wake up this Congress and alert the American people that this is no ordinary time either,” Biden told lawmakers, dignitaries and other guests at the Capitol on Thursday. “Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today.”
Biden took aim squarely at Trump, criticizing him and Republicans for blocking aid to Ukraine and sympathizing with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He sought to shame Trump as an isolationist, comparing Ronald Reagan’s 1980s exhortation to a Soviet leader to open the Berlin Wall with Trump’s suggestion he would let Russia invade NATO allies that don’t meet defense-spending targets. Biden never mentioned Trump by name, referring only to his predecessor.
“It wasn’t that long ago when a Republican president, Ronald Reagan, thundered “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” Biden said. “Now, my predecessor – a former Republican President – tells Putin ‘Do whatever the hell you want. That’s a quote. A former American President actually said that – bowing down to a Russian leader. I think it’s outrageous. It’s dangerous. And it’s unacceptable.”
Biden sought to highlight his first-term accomplishments and called on Congress to take action on immigration, abortion rights, higher taxes on the wealthy and lower drug prices. He also criticized Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the refusal of congressional Republicans to authorize additional assistance for Ukraine.
The annual speech was a test for the president, 81, to demonstrate his acuity as more voters than ever are concerned about his age. More than eight in 10 respondents in a recent Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll of swing states said Biden is too old.
Trump leads Biden in seven swing states by 5 percentage points, the poll found.
During his speech, the president again sought to portray his age as a source of experience that will help him guide the country for another four years. He called out China’s “unfair economic practices,” renewed US support for Taiwan and reaffirmed his backing for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians “over time.”
Also Read: After Trump meet, Musk says he won't donate to either US presidential candidate
Biden highlighted the battle over abortion rights and women’s health care in an appeal to moderate voters. Guests of first lady Jill Biden includes a Texas woman who was denied an abortion even after her fetus was diagnosed with a terminal genetic disease, as well as an Alabama woman whose embryo transfer was canceled following a recent Alabama Supreme Court decision that led fertility clinics to shutter.
“Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America,” Biden said, referring to the previous Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing abortion rights that was overturned in 2022.
“If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again,” he said.
Mocks Republicans
Biden scoffed at Republicans who booed his assertion that Trump’s tax cuts “exploded” the federal deficit, scowling at them and challenging them to “check the numbers.”
He also quipped that billionaires were making “great sacrifices” by paying an average federal tax of 8.2%, calling on Congress to make the minimum rate more than three times higher.
The president is also calling for a crackdown on insurance fees designed to lower housing prices. He’s asking Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate prices on more drugs, cap Medicare co-payments and to limit annual out-of-pocket drug prices to $2,000 a year, even for those on private insurance.
He criticized Republicans for abandoning an immigration bill after Trump urged them to torpedo it lest it give Biden a political win.
Also Read: US Presidential Election | Nikki Haley drops out — is Donald Trump out of the woods?
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene again walked Republicans into a trap, shouting the name of a woman from her state allegedly slain by an undocumented immigrant. Biden pulled out a pin bearing the woman’s name and acknowledged her family, then chided Republicans for blocking stronger border measures.
“We can fight about fixing the border. Or we can fix it,” Biden said.
Greene during last year’s State of the Union called Biden a “liar” and a back-and-forth with Republicans over entitlements morphed into a viral moment the president used to badger the GOP to drop calls for Social Security and Medicare cuts.
Trump offered live commentary on Biden’s speech using his social media platform. The former president has without evidence accused his successor of engineering the four criminal cases against him, including over his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election and his allegedly willful retention of classified material.
Looking Ahead
Senator Katie Britt, the Alabama Republican who is providing the Republican response to Biden’s address, is expected to make a reference to Biden’s age in her response. She’ll also criticize his policies on immigration, urban crime and the economy.
“The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader,” Britt plans to say. “America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders, stable prices, safe streets, and a strong defense are the cornerstones of a great nation.”
Biden also focused on so-called kitchen table issues, railing against junk fees by credit card companies and saying that he wanted to make homeownership more affordable even as he expects moderating inflation to eventually lower interest rates.
The president said he hoped to cut $3 trillion from the cumulative federal deficit over the next decade by raising taxes on corporations and the “very wealthy.”
Biden reiterated support for Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, while signaling heightened concern at the death and suffering in Gaza wrought by Israel’s military retaliation. He announced US plans to build a temporary pier to facilitate aid shipments, supplementing airdrops that began last week.
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