2024-03-09 09:39:31
In the State of the Union address, American presidents present an extensive list of achievements and promises to keep. Joe Biden, on Thursday night, took advantage of the large audience to try to seduce voters for the November elections.
Biden mentioned Donald Trump, his rival if Justice does not prevent him, 13 times, although without saying his name, only as his “predecessor.”
In the first five minutes, he called Trump’s comments encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin to do “whatever the hell he wants” in Europe as “outrageous, dangerous” and “unacceptable.”
He went on to highlight how his “predecessor” attempted to rewrite the history of the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection; how he hadn’t worried when the pandemic started; how he had done little to combat China and how he had failed to act against gun violence.
Within the 68-minute speech, Biden dedicated a large part to international politics: another anomaly for State of the Union messages. The two wars in the global spotlight, Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas, have generated such a crisis that it divides Biden’s own political coalition and the Democratic Party.
Even before he entered the Capitol, protests along his motorcade route highlighted widespread discontent over his handling of the war in the Gaza Strip.
Biden made clear the imperative of allowing humanitarian aid into the Strip, announcing that he was directing the US military to build a temporary port in Gaza to allow food, water and medicine to enter.
He highlighted the economic improvement after the pandemic and the fall in inflation. “I inherited a situation on the brink,” he said. “Now our economy is the envy of the world.”
Biden chose to focus largely on issues that Democrats hope will help them in the election, such as raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
And instead of focusing his speech on the issue that most worries voters, according to polls, that is, migration, he focused on the one that most challenges his potential electorate: abortion. Women’s reproductive rights were key to Democratic victories in 2022 and 2023, since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade.
“We will win again in 2024,” he predicted. The speech served as a map of the main issues Biden is focused on, including democracy. “My God, what freedoms are they going to take away now?” she asked.
In addition to defending those rights, he defended himself and faced criticism for his age. Biden is the oldest president the country has ever had, at 81, and has received plenty of criticism for being too old to serve a second term.
He spoke energetically, almost shouting, in an effort to show energy and vitality. He argued several times with the Republicans present in the room, deviating from his speech, prepared to improvise his responses.
The president and his advisors had prepared—indeed, sought—an interaction with Republican Party lawmakers. They bet that people are looking for a fighter who has the energy to take on his rivals, politically, and on the world stage.
And as he neared the end of his speech, he joked about his age. “I know it may not seem like it, but I’ve been here a long time,” she joked, laughing. “And when you get to my age, certain things become clearer than ever.” He ended the speech with an even more thunderous ending, drawing the usual standing ovation from Democrats.
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