President Biden used his State of the Union address on Thursday to launch a series of fiery attacks against former President Donald Trump, a rival he did not mention by name but made clear poses a formidable threat to American democracy and stability. in the world.
In a televised address to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Biden brought the energy that his allies and aides had hoped to warn of what could happen if Ukraine continues to lose ground to Russia. The invocation of an overseas war at the top of his speech was an unusual introduction to a speech that was in many ways a political argument for his re-election.
“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War has freedom and democracy been attacked at home like they are today,” Mr. Biden said, raising his voice to a shout. “What makes our moment rare is the freedom of democracy, which is under attack both at home and abroad.”
Mr. Biden’s speech had to accomplish several goals at once, including acknowledging an economy that has beaten expectations but whose effects many Americans say they cannot feel. In a speech that lasted more than an hour, he ran through a long list of issues, including immigration, abortion, the cost of prescription drugs and the war in Gaza.
He also engaged with congressional Republicans, picking up a button released by Republicans that invited people to say the name of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was killed in February.
Authorities have charged a Venezuelan immigrant who crossed into the United States illegally and was later paroled in the case.
Mr. Biden said Ms. Riley’s name and then added: “To her parents, I say, my heart goes out to you. Having lost children myself, I understand that,” he said at one point, going off script and addressing Republicans by describing the defendant as an “illegal.” The comment drew criticism from immigrant advocates and members of his own party who see the term as dehumanizing.
He also said that there were thousands of murders committed by “legitimates”.
Mr. Biden used his time in front of one of the largest audiences he will have before the November election to tell Americans that personal liberties, diplomatic relations and democratic authority in the United States are at stake if Mr. Trump is re-elected.
Mr. Biden attacked Mr. Trump for his soft treatment of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, whose troops invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. “If anyone in this room thinks that Putin is going to stop in Ukraine, I assure you he will not,” Mr. Biden said, warning that the world is watching the United States.
“We will not bow down,” Mr. Biden said. “I will not yield.”
He called out the former president’s behavior, including Mr. Trump’s lie that Biden stole the 2020 election from him.
“You can’t love your country only when you’re winning,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Trump, never one to sit still, responded to many of Mr. Biden’s points in a real-time stream of posts on his social media site, Truth Social. “Putin only invaded Ukraine because he doesn’t respect Biden,” he claimed in a post.
Before the speech, Mr. Biden was under pressure to address the issue of his age. He peppered his argument with humor — “I know I may not be like him, but I was a long time ago,” he said, adding that his 81 years have taught him to “embrace freedom and democracy” and “give hate no safe harbor ».
“Now some others my age see a different story: an American story of grudge, vengeance and revenge. That’s not me,” Mr. Biden said, a clear jab at his predecessor, who is four years younger and whose victory speech after the Super Tuesday primaries foreshadowed a dark future for America, a country that as “third world”.
Mr. Biden has also sought to quell discontent within his own party over his handling of the Gaza conflict. Earlier Thursday, the Biden administration said the United States would build a temporary port off Gaza to help deliver humanitarian aid.
“Israel also has a fundamental responsibility, however, to protect innocent civilians in Gaza,” Mr. Biden said.
The Israel-Hamas war has become a serious vulnerability for Mr. Biden. United Nations officials are warning that a famine is imminent in Gaza, and progressive Democratic Party voters are deeply angered by Mr. Biden’s support for Israel.
“To the leadership of Israel, I say this: humanitarian aid cannot be a secondary issue or a bargaining chip,” he said. “Protecting and saving innocent lives must be a priority.”
Of the hostages still being held by Hamas, Mr Biden said his administration “will not rest until we bring all your loved ones home”.
Mr. Biden said, as he has in the past, that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not end without a two-state solution.
During his speech, Mr. Biden focused extensively on reproductive rights, which have become a dynamic issue for his party. Republicans cheered the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion, but the party has been hit by state elections since then. Several women invited by the White House or Democratic lawmakers Thursday night had suffered life-threatening medical complications during pregnancy.
“Clearly those who brag about overturning Roe v. Wade have no idea about the power of women,” Mr. Biden said. “But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot, and we won in 2022, 2023, and we’ll win again in 2024.”
Mr. Biden, who once told supporters he was “not big on abortion” because of his Catholic faith, has promised to restore Roe’s protections — something that will be difficult to do without a significant majority in Congress.
Mr Biden had braced himself for pushback from Republicans, who jeered at him at various points during last year’s speech, calling him a “liar” and breaking into jeering. On Thursday, Mr. Biden hit Republicans on several points, including that they liked to take credit for federal investments they had voted against. At one point, one lawmaker shouted “Lies” as Mr. Biden spoke.
The speech was a high-stakes appearance for Mr. Biden, who trails Mr. Trump by five percentage points, according to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll.
Both men are unpopular, but Mr. Trump has enormous influence with a far-right faction of House Republicans who defied members of their own party by rejecting a bill that would limit immigration to the United States, saying it was not tough enough. Mr. Biden is under pressure to find a solution with a Republican Party that has so far signaled it will avoid handing him a political victory before November.
The percentage of Americans who see immigration as the biggest problem facing the United States has risen in recent months, and the rise in undocumented immigrants has put the Biden administration on the defensive as the campaign gets under way.
And though inflation has eased and the labor market has beaten expectations, the data has done little to overcome the pervasive belief among many Americans that they’re simply no better off than before. The Biden administration announced a plan Thursday to lower housing costs for working families and explained how his economic policies had benefited families.
“It’s not news, but in thousands of cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story ever told,” Mr. Biden said.
In his economic message there were hints of what Mr. Biden would do with a second term, including an effort to raise corporate taxes to at least 21 percent so, he said, “every big corporation finally starts paying its fair share.” . Such an initiative would be unlikely to succeed unless Democrats manage to hold the Senate and retake the House.
Republicans chose Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, who is nearly 40 years younger than the president, to respond to Mr. Biden’s speech.
“Our leader is not in command,” Ms. Britt said. “The free world deserves better than a divided and diminished leader.”
The 20 guests who accompanied Jill Biden, the first lady, to watch the speech were asked to sharply differ with Republicans on issues such as reproductive rights, prescription drug prices and the promotion of Western diplomacy.
Mr. Johnson had his own guest list, highlighting people connected to issues that Republicans believe are vulnerable to Democrats, including crime, the opioid epidemic and immigration. He also invited Ella Millman and Mikhail Gerskovich, the parents of Evan Gerskovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been imprisoned in Russia since last March.
Last weekend at Camp David, the president practiced for several days for his speech. On Thursday night, after days of media speculation about how he would look during that speech, he took his time as he entered the room, stopping to take selfies with supporters.
At various points in his speech, Mr. Biden appeared relaxed, touting Snickers bars and bags of potato chips, and taking on Republicans over tax cuts. After the speech, when the room had mostly cleared, Mr. Biden was still there, shaking hands with some members of the House and holding up Ukraine.
