President Biden, who is suffering from negative approval ratings and is lagging behind former President Trump in the latest public opinion poll average for the general election rematch, announced in prime time Thursday night that there are still eight months left until the November runoff. He delivered the State of the Union address and found himself in a bind. .
Mr. Biden early and often referred to Mr. Trump only as his “predecessor,” and when the president spoke to a joint session of the House and Senate, he fired multiple volleys at Republican lawmakers sitting directly in front of him. Ta.
“My predecessor, a former Republican president, told President Putin, ‘Do whatever you want to do,'” Biden stormed out three minutes into his speech. This was the first of 13 mentions of Trump, who is a potential Republican nominee this week.
Democrats praised the tone and delivery of the president’s speech, but Republicans slammed the speech for overstepping the line.
Biden targets Trump and Congressional Republicans in State of the Union address
President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday, March 7, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. Vice President Kamala Harris is standing on the left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is sitting on the right. (Shaun Hsu/Pool via AP) (Shaun Hsu/Pool via AP)
“This was the most partisan State of the Union I’ve ever heard in my life,” said Bill McGahn, then-President George W. Bush’s chief speechwriter.
“There was no lobbying for Republicans. The message was clear: Big government is back with a vengeance,” added McGahn, a Wall Street Journal editorial board member, columnist and Fox News contributor.
FOX Exclusive: President Trump reacts to President Biden’s speech
Mark Theisen, who also served as a speechwriter for President Bush, called Biden’s speech “an utter disgrace.”
“Directly attacking an opponent in the first few minutes of a speech is unprecedented and perhaps the most partisan start to a State of the Union address in modern memory,” Theisen said in a social media post.
This was a very different perspective from Dan Cluchey, who served as the president’s speechwriter in the Biden White House.
“With energy and vigor, the president laid out the clear choice facing America: a choice between two very different visions for our future: Will we expand our freedoms or restrict them? Democratic Will we defend our principles or attack them? Will we continue to grow? Will we make the economy work for everyone, or will we rig it for the benefit of billionaires and the wealthiest corporations? Biden “The president made his position clear and he did it with equal parts sharp speeches, disarming jokes and facts, dominating the room with moral authority.” Kruchey told Fox News. Ta.
Mr. Kruschey then claimed, “There is no better State of the Union address than this.”
President Joe Biden speaks during the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, March 7, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The contrast with Trump was stunning and poignant. He pulls no punches, tells the truth, and does what he needs,” Maria Cardona, a longtime Democratic consultant, told Fox News. Everything was there,” he said.
“Of course, the Republicans thought this was too political. If that’s their only criticism, then the Republicans know he’s hit a home run and there’s nowhere else to go.” Democratic National Committeeman Cardona, a member of the group and a veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, added:
Cardona argued that the president was “energetic, candid, funny, eloquent, clearly and competently explaining his accomplishments and connecting them to people’s lives.”
McGahn agreed that Biden, 81, was “more energetic than I’ve seen in a while.”
But he added that the speech had a “get off my lawn, rotten kids!” vibe.
Judge Clark, who served as a speechwriter for the late President Ronald Reagan, also said that Biden’s speech “sounded angry. The power of it was basically Biden screaming and expressing his anger.” It was on,” he agreed.
He then criticized the speech as “a laundry list of bad solutions to the problems I had in mind.” [Biden] caused it. ”
Biden used part of his speech to focus on economic recovery during his time in the White House.
“I inherited an economy that was on the brink,” Biden said, stressing that “our economy is now the envy of the world.”
And he highlighted that “wages continue to rise and inflation continues to fall.”
However, poll after poll shows that Americans do not appreciate the president’s efforts to ease inflation.
And Mr. Biden launched an attack on Mr. Trump and Congressional Republicans on another politically vulnerable issue: the crisis at the southern border.
But veteran Republican strategist Colin Reed said that when it comes to the economy and the border, “both are buried deep within the scope of the speech.”
“He screwed up badly on the two most important issues,” said Reid, a campaign veteran who was this season’s top adviser to a super PAC helping former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie win the 2024 Republican nomination. he said.
Biden is the oldest president in American history. And polls show that a majority of Americans have serious doubts about his physical and mental ability to last four more years in the White House.
“I know I may not look like it, but I’ve been around for a while, and when you get to my age, some things become more obvious than ever,” Biden said. he quipped near the end of his speech.
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Chris Moyer, an experienced Democratic strategist and communicator, said the president “can’t just stick in his face and pretend to voters that he doesn’t know he’s old. “This was my first time. It was a smart thing to do,” he admitted. And I think he’ll refine this more and more over the course of the campaign. ”
“This was more like a campaign speech than a State of the Union address,” said Moyer, who has participated in several Democratic presidential campaigns. But Biden “did what he needed to do, showing a fighting spirit and putting out many of the expected opinions on popular issues,” he said.
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