President Biden will use his third State of the Union address Thursday night to outline his administration’s “historic accomplishments” and emphasize the importance of “national unity” and “saving our democracy,” according to the White House. That’s what it means.
The president is scheduled to deliver the State of the Union address Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.
A White House official told Fox News Digital that the president will “explain his historic accomplishments for the American people and his vision for the future.”
“President Biden has accomplished more in his first three years than most presidents have accomplished in two terms,” a White House official told Fox News Digital.
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President Biden delivered the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on February 7, 2023. (Jacqueline Martin/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The president is expected to discuss the “protection and implementation of policies” he hopes to achieve in his final year and second term.
The official said Biden will discuss infrastructure and investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, lowering drug prices and “eliminating junk fees.”
But the president is expected to center his speech on “which side he’s on” and “steps forward to make life better for all Americans,” officials said. .
The president will discuss cost-cutting, lowering health insurance premiums and “working with drug companies to reduce the cost of prescription drugs.”
Biden will also discuss how to make the middle class a “first priority.”
The official said Biden would also lay out a strategy to “save our democracy” and “protect women’s reproductive health.”
Although the State of the Union address cannot be considered a campaign speech, a president running for re-election will likely attempt to contrast his own policies with those of the Republican Party.
“Rights and freedoms are on the ballot,” a White House official said, adding that Biden would discuss “the unity of our country” and his “unifying agenda.”
The official said the “unity agenda” will touch on topics such as privacy and big tech, how to curb fentanyl, supporting veterans and fighting cancer.
President Biden visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, last month. (Raquel Natalichio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
“We want to complete everything we can as soon as possible,” the official said. “We’re going to pedal as hard as we can this year, but there’s going to be a lot more to come in the second semester.”
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But the White House offered no insight into how the president would address the crisis at the southern border in his speech Thursday night.
The ongoing border crisis has become the biggest political issue in the days leading up to the speech, with Biden expected to renew his push for the Senate to pass the border deal announced earlier this year. Republicans blame the crisis on the administration’s policies.
The speech comes after a historic year for illegal immigration, with more than 2.4 million migrants encountered in 2023. FY2024 was similarly overwhelming, with more than 300,000 migrants encountered in December.
The president visited the southern border last week, visiting Brownsville, Texas. His visit came on the same day as his Republican opponent, former President Trump. Biden met with Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and local leaders and urged Republicans to support a bipartisan Senate bill to address the crisis.
President Biden will deliver his State of the Union address on March 7, the latest direct presidential address to a joint session of Congress. (Getty Images)
“It’s that simple,” the president said last week. “It’s time to act. It’s long past time to act.” “The time has come to tackle this. We can’t wait any longer.”
The president’s visit comes days after the murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley. Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, was arrested and charged with Riley’s murder.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that the Venezuelan national entered the United States illegally in 2022 and was previously arrested in New York City and later released.
Biden has not yet mentioned Riley by name.
The president’s speech also comes at a time of heightened global uncertainty amid ongoing wars between Israel and Hamas, Russia and Ukraine, and heightened tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.
Last month, White House officials acknowledged a national security threat related to Russia’s space capabilities that could impact U.S. and global military communications.
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Last month, the United States also carried out retaliatory strikes against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and its affiliated militias and proxies on more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria. The airstrike came after three American soldiers were killed at a US military base in Jordan.
There have been at least 160 attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East since mid-October.
In retaliation, the United States launched airstrikes on western Iraq. (Fox News)
The president’s speech also came as the House of Representatives was conducting an impeachment inquiry into the president. Republican lawmakers are investigating whether he was involved in or profited from his family’s overseas business dealings, saying they could affect U.S. national security.
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His address to the nation also came just weeks after Special Counsel Robert Hur released a long-awaited report after a months-long investigation into Biden’s improper retention of classified records.
Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, which found President Biden’s “poor memory,” sparked media coverage of the president’s mental capacity during his time in office. (Reuters/Getty)
In his report, Mr. Xu described the president as a “sympathetic and well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory,” and did not press charges.
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The president’s opponents have expressed concerns about his mental fitness to serve as president and his chances for a second term.
Meanwhile, White House communications director Ben LaBolt said in his speech that the president would “insist on continuing to build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out,” and that his policies would include “record job creation, It led to the strongest job creation.” The global economy, increases in wages and household wealth, and reductions in prescription drug and energy costs. ”
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LaBolt contrasted this with “MAGA Republican policies,” which he claims are focused on “rewarding billionaires and corporations with huge tax cuts, taking away rights and freedoms, and undermining democracy.” Painted.
But the White House’s message isn’t just focused on Thursday night’s speech. LaBolt said we live in a “fragmented communication environment” and that many Americans “don’t seek to collectively consume the State of the Union in the same moment or through the same medium.” .
President Biden speaks by phone during a National Small Business Week event in the White House Rose Garden on May 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
“That’s why we’re aggressively deploying, not just Thursday, but over the coming weeks, to bring the American people the news that includes the president’s message about whose side he’s on,” LaBolt said. Told.
In the days after the State of the Union, Biden is scheduled to visit Philadelphia and Atlanta, and Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Arizona and Nevada.
The White House will also send Cabinet members to states across the country, including Colorado, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee and Michigan, to highlight the Biden administration’s policies. It’s planned.
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Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., is expected to deliver the Republican response to Biden’s speech Thursday night.
Fox News’ Adam Shae contributed to this report.
