On March 7th, President Joe Biden delivered his 2024 State of the Union Address. In just an hour, Biden delivered an energetic speech, addressing issues and sparring with Republicans' heckling. But did this translate into an incredibly well done speech, or as Ted Cruz called it, an "angry old man?" By my count, Biden discussed around 22 different issues but today, I'm going to pick my top 5 issues which I think are the most important.
Democracy Mr. Biden lamented that democracy is under attack. He used the Russian invasion of Ukraine as his example, saying that Ukraine needs American help. If you've read my previous article, you would know my opinion on this matter, and that I support defending Ukraine. Biden explained that Russia will not stop at Ukraine. If you want to read more on this issue, you can check out my previous article, but in essence, what he is saying here is significantly true. If Russia takes Ukraine, Putin will start eyeing at other former USSR states. Don't believe him when he says he won't as Putin also said he wouldn't invade Ukraine but did so anyway. In Biden's speech, he went on to attack 'his predecessor' for telling Putin to "do whatever the hell you want" to NATO countries.
And while this is half true- Trump was specifically talking about the countries that don't spend at least 2% of GDP on defense, it's still a very interesting thing to say, especially while Putin is flexing his imperialistic tendencies in Ukraine. Biden closed this section by saying that "history is watching," and that the United States cannot walk away from Ukraine. Next, Biden transitioned into talking about January 6th. The President made it very clear that the insurrectionists were not patriots, instead a group of violent insurrectionists who tried to overturn the results of the 2020 elections, over the false claim that Biden had stolen it. "But they failed!" said Biden, to the applauding Democrats, and to Mike Johnson shaking his head and rolling his eyes. Biden goes on, saying that Trump and some members of Congress "seek to bury the truth about January 6th," but he does not agree saying "this is the moment to speak the truth than to bury the lies." He finished the segment strong, calling out Trump by saying that "you can't love your country only when you win," pressuring Republicans and Democrats to work together to restore trust in the institutions, and to "make clear that political violence has absolutely no place- no place in America...."
2. Reproductive Rights On February 16, 2024, the Supreme Court of Alabama ruled that embryos are legally children, effectively halting all IVF services in Alabama. Biden made it clear that he wanted his colleagues to "stand up for families... to my friends across the aisle, don't keep this waiting any longer. Guarantee the right to IVF. Guarantee it nationwide." There isn't much to say on this issue, it's just Biden affirming his position on protecting reproductive rights.
Biden then went on to talk about abortion, one of the most important issues for the Democrats in November. He says that he believes that "Roe v Wade got it right," claiming that Trump wanted it overturned, and brags about it. This is true.
Biden then went on to jab at the Supreme Court decision which overturned Roe v Wade, saying that "women are not without... electoral or political power," bringing up something that Justice Samuel Alito said in his opinion overturning Roe. "You are just about to realize just how much you were right about that," Biden finished. To close, he affirmed his position on Pro-Choice, and said that he would make "Roe v Wade the law of the land again."
3. The Border
Immigration is the weakest issue for Biden going into the Presidential Elections, so Biden sought to try and flip the narrative. He pointed at a bipartisan bill that conservatives got together and wrote, which had the "toughest set of border security reforms we've ever seen." However, Republicans in Congress tanked the bill after Donald Trump apparently called members of Congress to urge them to vote against it.
Biden lamented that although a majority of Congress would endorse the bill, politics has derailed it. "It's not about [Trump], it's not about me," Biden said, "I'd be a winner, not really." It was at this moment that Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, who definitely had been violating several dress code violations, and made the president do this:
interrupted Biden by yelling at Biden to "say her name." She was not referring to herself in fact, she was referring to Laken Riley, a woman who was tragically murdered while going for a jog by an illegal immigrant. And Biden did indeed say her name but added on that illegals aren't the only ones that kill, saying "but how many of thousands of people being killed by legals...to her parents I say my heart goes out to having lost children myself... But look. If we change the dynamic at the border... the idea is it's highly unlikely that people will pay that money and come all that way knowing that they'll be able to be kicked out quickly... I would respectfully suggest to my Republican friends... get this bill done, we need to act now." This stance reflects the new way that Democrats have approached the border issue, framing it as the Republicans want to fight about it, while Democrats are the one actually willing to do anything about it. As Biden said soon after: "We can fight about fixing the border, or we can fix it!"
4. Israel
Tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians are being killed by the Isralian Army since they set out to destroy Hamas. Indeed, Israel has the right to go after Hamas, Biden agrees. However, he also iterates that Israel has a duty to protect innocent civilians in Gaza, "Israel also has a fundamental responsibility though, to protect innocent civilians in Gaza. This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous Wars in Gaza combined." Biden explains that he believes there must be an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid in, and looks in the future to a two-state solution, which he believes is the only way that guarantees Isralian security, Palestinian Security, and stability in the Middle East.
5. Ideas, not age
"I know it may not look like it, but I've been around for a while... In my career, I've been told I was too young... I've been told I'm too old." The border wasn't the only issue that Biden hoped to turn against Republicans, he also wanted to talk about his most often criticism: his age. At 81 years old, if he gets reelected he will break the record for oldest president ever- one that he set, despite being one of the youngest Senators at just age 30. But Biden hoped to address this argument, saying that "my fellow Americans, the issue facing our nation isn't how old we are, it's how old are our ideas." Without naming Trump, he lamented about how old ideas like hate, anger, and retribution would only take us back, "You can't lead America with ancient ideas." In an electrifying end to his Address, he concluded, "To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future of what America can and should be. Tonight you've heard mine. I see a future where we defend democracy not diminish it. I see a future where we restore the right to choose and protect other freedoms not take them away. I see a future where the middle class finally has a fair shot and the wealthy finally have to pay their fair share in taxes. I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence. Above all, I see a future for all Americans! I see a country for all Americans!"
Opinion
Overall, I believe that President Biden's speech was extremely well done, although the bar was pretty low since we're comparing it with Senator Katie Britt's GOP response which was atrocious. His loud demeanor tried to completely flip the script of his age and passivity on his head, prompting many conservatives to call him out for being "too loud" or being an "angry old man," but these same conservatives would call him "an old man" or "not suited to run the country" if he wasn't loud and if he wasn't aggressive, so either way Biden will get criticized for how he talks. Now I do want to note that the speech felt more like a campaign speech than an actual State of the Union Address, since it felt like he was laying out the case for reelection, but we are in pretty special circumstances where this early on we already know who the two candidates are going to be. Now, Biden did make some factual errors, or left out some parts of the story. For instance, he claimed that Trump "added more to the national debt than any presidential term in American history," and while this is true, you can blame this on COVID relief spending, as well as other safety-net programs (like Medicare and Social Security), according to CNN.
While we have to take into account the mistakes, a lot of Biden's achievements are true. Under his leadership we've avoided a recession that many pundits called inevitable, and the number of jobs added beat expectations by far. Fox News is juggling between saying that "Bidenomics" is failing, while reporting that the economy is doing much better than expected. But most importantly, Biden isn't someone who tried to overturn the results of a fair election through a violent insurrection, and then call the insurrectionists "patriots." Biden was not an angry old man, rather an old man with a strong passion, seeking to rebut accusations that he isn't fit for office. And sure, age is a factor, but like he said, so are ideas. Who are you voting for, a 77 year old racist man who refused to admit defeat and claims that Presidents have a total presidential immunity, or a 4 year older man who believes in the foundation of democracy? That is the issue. As Poland shows, once the foundations of democracy starts to fall apart, it's very hard to claw your way back. And if you want to support Trump, I don't care. But as the great John Stewart said, "Look, if you want to love Trump, love him. Go to the rallies, buy the sneakers... You do you, but stop framing it as patriotism. Because... he is advocating for complete and total presidential immunity... that is monarchy sh*t. And it's your right to support it, but just do me a favor for historical accuracy. Next time you want to dress up at the rallies, wear the right f*cking colored coats. That's what you are."
Works Cited
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Clark, Dartunorro. “Trump Suggests “Injection” of Disinfectant to Beat Coronavirus and “Clean” the Lungs.” NBC News, 24 Apr. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-suggests-injection-disinfectant-beat-coronavirus-clean-lungs-n1191216.
Dumain, Emma. “Republicans Cheer Spending from Bill They Opposed — Again.” E&E News by POLITICO, 28 Nov. 2023, www.eenews.net/articles/republicans-cheer-spending-from-bill-they-opposed-again/. Accessed 12 Mar. 2024.
Edwards-Levy, Jennifer Agiesta, Ariel. “CNN Poll: More than 6 in 10 SOTU Viewers Had a Positive Reaction to Biden’s Speech | CNN Politics.” CNN, 8 Mar. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/03/08/politics/cnn-poll-biden-sotu-speech-reaction/index.html.
Holtgrave, Opinion by David. “Opinion: 12 Ways the Trump Administration Botched America’s Response to Covid-19.” CNN, 29 Oct. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/10/29/opinions/ways-trump-botched-covid-response-holtgrave/index.html.
Kapur, Sahil. “Trump: “I Was Able to Kill Roe v. Wade.”” NBC News, 17 May 2023, www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-was-able-kill-roe-v-wade-rcna84897.
Lewis, Kaitlin. “Donald Trump Responds to Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address.” Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2024, www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-joe-biden-state-union-truth-social-response-1877150. Accessed 10 Mar. 2024.
Lithwick, Dahlia, and Mark Joseph Stern. “Alabama Thinks It Has Solved Its IVF Crisis. Not Quite.” Slate, 11 Mar. 2024, slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/alabama-ivf-crisis-legal-analysis.html. Accessed 11 Mar. 2024.
Nicholas, Peter. “Biden Makes History by Joining Striking Autoworkers on the Picket Line.” NBC News, 26 Sept. 2023, www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-makes-history-striking-auto-workers-picket-line-rcna117348.
Staff, C. N. N. “Fact Checking Biden’s State of the Union | CNN Politics.” CNN, 8 Mar. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/03/07/politics/fact-check-joe-biden-state-of-the-union/index.html.
Tamborrino, Kelsey, and Josh Siegel. “Big Winners from Biden’s Climate Law: Republicans Who Voted against It.” POLITICO, 23 Jan. 2023, www.politico.com/news/2023/01/23/red-states-are-winning-big-from-dems-climate-law-00078420.
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