President Biden delivered what could be his final State of the Union address on Thursday.
While many presidents have used such moments to focus on the “unity” of all Americans in common values and interests, Biden is speaking to our discord and once again pushing the nation further apart. It looked like he was trying to sleep.
Much of the rhetoric would have been familiar if delivered in greater volume.
Biden nurtured the same demons he had previously cultivated, painting his opponents as a threat to democracy itself.
Similar to his speeches in Philadelphia and Valley Forge, Biden chose a backdrop of unity to highlight and capitalize on our divisions. And many media were excited about this exhibition.
The president attacked Trump and the Supreme Court, likening his political opponents to those who posed the same threat as Hitler during World War II.
After the speech, MSNBC anchor Nicole Wallace gushed, “It was like a punch in the face to every single Republican in the room.”
She repeated that she was “punched in the nose” before adding, “We all know this is a great speech.”
I beg to differ.
While it was certainly a powerful speech for Biden, there was little cohesion and it was a pretty poor State of the Union address.
Mr. Biden attacked his political opponents more than a dozen times and appeared to even verbally abuse the Supreme Court justice sitting in front of him.
He returned to the themes of his infamous Philadelphia speech, depicting his opponents (including millions of Americans) as representing existential threats to the nation like the Nazis and the Confederacy.
The hellish red background was gone, but in some ways it was more chilling because this was a different setting.
This was supposed to be a State of the Union address in which the president expressed not just his own political interests, but what he considered the national interest.
There is a difference.
Some Republicans showed a similar lack of appreciation for the moment, heckling and yelling at the president.
I wrote that such behavior should not be tolerated in SOTU.
we forgot our manners
While guests were removed from the chamber and arrested for yelling at the president, some members continued to treat SOTU like a cathartic screaming session.
The media also reacted enthusiastically to the outrage and condemnation.
They praised Biden’s speech, largely ignoring the hyper-partisanship and dubious factual claims.
What is lost is what we once had in this moment.
I remember when I was young, standing in awe of this room and its people.
The president and members of Congress were deeply partisan and deeply divided.
But SOTU was still able to transcend politics.
It was a moment that reminded the nation that we can still achieve moments of civility and civility.
In a sense, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ruination of former President Donald Trump’s speech may have killed SOTU.
The moment she dropped the microphone will have a lasting impact on the House.
Although many media outlets praised her lack of courtesy and respect, she ruined something far more important than the speech.
She shattered decades of traditions of civility and what remains of restraint in our politics.
Now, media figures like Wallace are praising the president for delivering a “speech that punched every Republican in the face in the room.” . . Punch in the nose. . . We all know this is the message for the next eight months, but the polls will soon reflect that, this is going to be a real battle. ”
For the past three years, Wallace said, along with figures like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), that “Donald Trump’s speeches have encouraged crowds to “fight like hell or we’re out of this country.” It doesn’t matter that we’ve spent so much time accusing them of “inciting people.” . ” ”
I denounced the speech on January 6, when it was still being given.
But to some, divisive rhetoric, when done by the right parties, seems thrilling rather than threatening.
Now, it’s a matter of pride to see the president use the same rhetoric to “punch the Republican Party in the nose” and call on the nation to fight against the tens of millions of people who support the opposition.
I find no joy or comfort in Biden’s State of the Union address.
Divided politics continues as usual.
It’s not that Biden didn’t heed history’s call for national unity.
He just chose to ignore it.
Instead, the public was given scripted outrage and choreographed demonstrations.
The question is what the people will demand from now on.
We can seek out candidates who can achieve greater goals than we can at this time. . . Or we can all punch each other in the nose until the whole country falls apart bloody.
Jonathan Turley is an attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School.
