As has mostly been the case in recent years, I skipped the State of the Union last night. The reaction of the press to it was almost comically uniform.
Beginning with the overseas press:
BBC (“State of the Union: Biden draws election battle lines in fiery speech“):
President Joe Biden delivered a fiery State of the Union address on Thursday, taking repeated swipes at Donald Trump and covering the broad themes of his re-election campaign.
Mr Biden used the term “my predecessor” to refer to Mr Trump 13 times in a speech that lasted more than an hour.
He accused his likely election opponent of “bowing down” to Russia and criticised him over the Capitol riot.
Mr Biden also covered immigration, abortion, the economy and Gaza.
The atmosphere in the House chamber was raucous at times, with loud cheering from Democrats and heckling from some Republicans.
It was a spectacle more typical of a political convention than a State of the Union address – a constitutionally mandated report that is usually heavy on pageantry and policy.
But this is an election year and the stakes for Mr Biden were high. He was feisty and confrontational as he sought to draw the battle lines for his nascent campaign.
Reuters (“Biden takes on Trump and Republicans in fiery State of the Union speech“):
President Joe Biden on Thursday laid out his case for re-election in a fiery State of the Union speech that accused Donald Trump of threatening democracy, kowtowing to Russia and torpedoing a bill to tackle U.S. immigration woes.
In a 68-minute address to Congress, Biden, a Democrat, drew sharp contrasts with his Republican rival and gamely challenged Trump’s supporters in the chamber during a speech that was watched as much for the 81-year-old president’s performance as it was for his policy proposals.
Biden charged Trump, his Republican challenger in the Nov. 5 election, with burying the truth about the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol assault, bowing to Russian President Vladimir Putin and blocking a bill to tighten restrictions at the U.S. border with Mexico.
On the Middle East, the president said he had been working for an immediate ceasefire to last six weeks between Hamas militants and Israel, and he warned Israel against using aid to Gaza as a bargaining chip.
The greater thrust of his remarks focused on Trump, though Biden did not mention him by name.Biden opened by declaring democracy under threat at home and abroad and criticizing Trump for inviting Putin to invade NATO nations if they did not spend more on defense.
“Now my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, quote, ‘Do whatever you want,’” Biden said. “I think it’s outrageous, it’s dangerous and it’s unacceptable.”
Biden, who pressed Congress to provide additional funding to Ukraine for its war with Russia, also had a message for Putin: “We will not walk away.”
France 24 (“Biden takes on Trump and Republicans in fiery State of the Union speech“):
President Joe Biden on Thursday laid out his case for re-election in a fiery State of the Union speech that accused Donald Trump of threatening democracy, kowtowing to Russia and torpedoing a bill to tackle US immigration woes. France 24’s international affairs editor Kethevane Gorjestani delivers her verdict on the president’s address. [This is paired with a video]
Domestically, CNBC’s Christina Wilkie continued the theme (“Biden electrifies Democrats, spars with Republicans in fiery State of the Union address“):
A spirited President Joe Biden delivered a fiery, partisan State of the Union address on Thursday, fit for an election year with enormously high stakes in a divided nation.
“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today,” Biden said early in the speech.
“What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack, both at home and overseas, at the very same time,” he said.
“Overseas, [President Vladimir] Putin of Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond. If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not,” the president said to cheers from Democrats and a applause to smattering of Republicans.
“My message to President Putin is simple. We will not walk away. We will not bow down. I will not bow down,” Biden said.
The president also celebrated Sweden’s ascension 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.
On domestic policy, Biden was even more confrontational than he was on foreign affairs, repeatedly calling out Republicans and sparring live on TV with some of the loudest voices in the GOP caucus.
As a coterie of conservative Supreme Court justices sat just feet away from him, Biden excoriated them for overturning the reproductive rights enshrined in Roe vs. Wade.
“In its decision to overturn Roe v. 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’re about to realize just how much.” With that, Democrats in the chamber jumped to their feet and clapped and cheered.
You get the idea.
Others:
- AP headlines their report “Biden uses feisty State of the Union to contrast with Trump, sell voters on a second term.”
- WaPo headlines theirs “Biden delivers State of the Union with fiery political tone.”
- YahooNews’ Andrew Romano gave us “Key takeaways from Biden’s fiery State of the Union speech.”
- Not to be outdone, ABC’s Tal Axelrod provided “7 takeaways from Biden’s fiery State of the Union.”
- CBS News labels their video “President Joe Biden gives fiery State of Union speech.”
Astute readers will have noticed a theme.
Given the narrative by Trump and his fellow Republicans—bolstered by the national press—that Biden is a dotard deep into senility, coming across as “fiery” is almost certainly a good thing.
As a general matter, I find the increasing practice of turning what is ostensibly an annual report to Congress on the state of the union into a partisan rally shameful. But that genie’s long out of the bottle and Presidents using the forum to embarrass their opponents, call out the Supreme Court Justices who are expected to sit there stoically for opinions they dislike, and the like has become the norm. As has jeering the President from the stands.
Beyond that, while there are certainly policy issues where I disagree with him, the President sounded strong themes about American foreign policy leadership that, not so long ago, would have resonated with the Republican Caucus—indeed, could easily have been delivered by Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, or either George Bush.
