WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden touted his economic achievements and offered a rebuke to Republicans, anticipating the case he will make for re-election, in his State of the Union address Tuesday.
Facing a divided Congress for the first time since taking office, Biden responded as Republicans heckled him from the floor of the House of Representatives they now control.
A series of tense exchanges during the traditionally decorous event highlights the partisan rancor Biden will need to overcome to achieve anything with the new Congress, including simply raising the debt ceiling to avoid a catastrophic default on the US debt.
He pointed to the economic progress made during his presidency and said he would not allow Republicans to “take the economy hostage” over the debt ceiling.
“Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back. Because of the decisions we made in the last two years,” she said.
Still, the president was faced with choruses of “boos” and scattered shouts of insults like “liar” — and worse — on a variety of issues.
The outbursts seemed to come mostly from the handful of usual suspect Republicans, known for stunting and taunting leaders of both parties.
But the president was also unusually combative at times, and especially easygoing at others, laying the groundwork for his much-heralded 2024 re-election campaign.
A particularly tense exchange occurred when Biden accused Republicans of wanting to “cancel” Social Security and Medicare as part of ongoing negotiations over raising the debt limit.
Republican lawmakers appeared aghast at the accusation, expressing theatrical levels of shock and outrage as others jeered and booed.
“Anyone who doubts it, please contact my office, I will give you a copy of the proposal,” Biden said, clearly taken aback.
The president regained control of the situation by saying, somewhat jokingly, that the protests showed that both parties want to keep entitlement programs out of the debt ceiling talks.
“As we all seem to agree, Social Security and Medicare are off the books now, right?” Biden said. “Okay, we are unanimous.”
But a threshold had been crossed, and the taunts continued throughout Biden’s speech as he tackled issues like immigration and the opioid crisis, with one Republican appearing to yell that it was Biden’s fault.
It was a radically different tone from how Biden began his speech, congratulating Republican President Kevin McCarthy on his election with some friendly banter.
“Speaker, I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you,” Biden quipped to McCarthy. “People sent us a clear message. Fighting for fighting’s sake, power for power’s sake, conflict for conflict’s sake, gets us nowhere.”
That courtesy quickly collapsed as Biden delved into his speech.
With his re-election campaign on the horizon, the president called out the Republicans, criticized “the big lie” that former President Donald Trump perpetuated about his failed 2020 presidential campaign and improvised cheeky responses to their taunts.
“Now some members here are threatening… to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act. Alright. That’s fair,” Biden said before going further on his prepared remarks. “As my football coach used to say, best of luck in your senior year!”
Facing widespread concerns about his age and health, the 80-year-old president spoke energetically and at a fast pace before slowing down and adopting a more intimate tone.
He leaned into the microphone as he alternated between making eye contact with the lawmakers in the room and speaking directly to the camera, and to viewers at home, while occasionally committing some of his now-familiar verbal lapses.
With Republicans now in control of the House, Biden has little hope of advancing major legislation.
But the president, who predicted during his campaign that Republicans would have an “epiphany” after former President Donald Trump leaves office, said the two parties can still find places to work together to get things done.
That includes areas like counting out China, though many Republicans aren’t happy with the way he handled the Chinese spy balloon, promoting American manufacturing and regulating powerful tech companies.
“The United States used to make almost 40% of the world’s chips. But in the last few decades, we’ve lost our edge,” Biden said of computer chips. “We came together to pass the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. We’re making sure the supply chain for America starts in America.”
Biden promoted the federal money that Washington is pumping into constituencies across the country to support new infrastructure projects.
He drew particular attention to how the major spending packages he enacted are helping rural and economically challenged communities, arguing that Democrats are doing the most to help blue-collar workers.
“In the midst of the economic turmoil of the last four decades, too many people have been left behind or treated as if they were invisible. Maybe you are the one watching from home. You remember the jobs that disappeared,” Biden said. “This is a blue collar plan to rebuild America and make a real difference in their lives.”
The State of the Union is one of the highest profile events any president will hold all year.
It is a key opportunity for Biden to speak directly to American voters before formally announcing his re-election campaign, which is expected to begin this spring.
Drawing on themes that helped Biden win the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and then the general election, the White House said the president said America emerged stronger than ever from the twin crises that marked his inauguration two years ago: the pandemic and the insurrection of January 6. .
“We are the only country that has emerged from each crisis stronger than when we entered. That’s what we’re doing again,” Biden said. “Two years ago, COVID closed our businesses, closed our schools, and robbed us a lot. Today, COVID no longer controls our lives. And two years ago, our democracy faced its biggest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unshakable and intact.”
Americans ranked “dealing with coronavirus” last out of more than 20 topics asked about in a recent Pew surveywho found that financial worries were much more frequent.
The speech is likely to draw smaller audiences than Biden’s previous speeches to Congress or those of his predecessors, but the president and his team have spent days preparing, including over the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
