Mother Jones illustration; Shawn Thew/EFE/ZUMA
For over an hour on Thursday night, during the State of the Union address, President Joe Biden energetically presented a vibrant progressive agenda and repeatedly stuck it to Donald Trump. Yes, there were stumbles and linguistic slips, but Biden portrayed a vigor at odds with the caricatures that are constantly promoted by Trump and Biden detractors in the conservative media. Caricatures focusing on his age are then bolstered by seemingly endless coverage by the mainstream media. The president was aggressive from the git-go; Dark Brandon was in the room.
Biden opened strong, calling for congressional support for Ukraine and slamming “my predecessor” for bowing before Russian President Vladimir Putin and telling him to “do whatever the hell you want.” Biden then vowed, “I will not bow down.” Tying the fight against Russia in Ukraine to the battle to protect democracy in the United States, Biden pivoted to the Trump-incited insurrectionist riot on January 6, 2021, which occurred in the same room in which he was speaking. Staring at the Republicans present, Biden proclaimed, “My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth of January 6th.” He called on all in the chamber to say no to political violence. Democrats stood up and cheered; Republicans sat on their hands. Sitting behind the president, House Speaker Mike Johnson rolled his eyes.
In these initial minutes, Biden cornered the Trumpists: They were foes of democracy abroad and at home, a theme he returned to throughout the speech, as he relentlessly pounded “my predecessor.” MP “brags” about killing Roe v. Wade. MP, and “many of you in this chamber,” are “promising” to pass an abortion ban. During the Covid pandemic, MP “failed the most basic duty…the duty to care.” MP wants to end the Affordable Care Act and take away coverage for pre-existing conditions for a hundred million Americans. MP torpedoed the bipartisan immigration bill that included proposals from conservatives to bolster security at the border. MP did nothing on gun safety and after a recent school shooting in Iowa said that we should “get over it” and move forward.
Biden didn’t merely highlight the differences between himself and King MAGA and his comrades, he shoved it in their faces. After the speech, while delivering a predictably hyperbolic and fear-mongering GOP response, Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) derided Biden as a “dithering and diminished leader.” Had she not watched him? Biden’s blistering assault on Trump was vigorous and fierce. When he was heckled by Republicans, he shot back sharp one-liners. (“Oh, you don’t like that bill?” he jeered at Republicans who booed his remarks about the immigration bill that was negotiated by Republicans and then killed by Trump loyalists.)
Biden still looks and moves like he’s 81 years old, but he was engaged and engaging, bantering with and goading the Republicans. Biden talked policy details like a pro. He was far more cogent than Trump ever is during his rambling rants at campaign rallies.
As expected, Biden highlighted positive economic indicators and cited a long list of his accomplishments: the infrastructure bill and the 46,000 new projects it has generated (including removing lead pipes and bringing broadband to rural communities), the CHIPS Act, the revival of manufacturing, reducing the price of insulin, tax credits that lower the costs of health care premiums, $12 billion in funding for women’s health research, a reduction the student debt burden for millions, cutting credit card fees, and a wide variety of climate change initiatives.
The speech also featured a lengthy wish list of progressive proposals: ending Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthy, lowering the price of prescription drugs and capping the annual costs of such medicines, tax credits for first-time home buyers, increasing affordable housing, establishing universal access to pre-school, increasing Pell grants, raising taxes on billionaires and corporations, upping pay for public school teachers, boosting the minimum wage, enhancing voter rights, protecting transgender rights, banning assault weapons. (There was plenty more!)
Recognizing the rift within the Democratic party over his support of Israel, Biden noted the horrific loss of life in Gaza and told the Israeli government that “humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.” The US military, he said, would lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters for Palestinians. Meanwhile, he vowed to keep working for a ceasefire that would include a return of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. “The only real solution is a two-state solution over time,” he declared, a position at odds with that of the current Israeli government. This is unlikely to calm the protests against him for supporting Israel’s assault in Gaza, but he highlighted the horrendous civilian casualties in Gaza more than he has done in the past.
The heart (and soul?) of this speech was how Biden differentiated himself from Trump. Trump’s political narrative is dark and full of hate. In his speeches, he depicts America as a land of carnage or, as he recently put it, a “joke.” Poking fun at his age—”I know I may not look like it, but I’ve been around a while”—Biden remarked, “My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy. A future based on the core values that have defined America. Honesty. Decency. Dignity. Equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor. Now some other people my age see a different story. An American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me.”
Biden offered a stark definition of the choice in 2024. The other guy is all about anger and division, and he endangers democracy overseas and here. He is fixated on identifying and denouncing his enemies, rousing tribalistic ire, and amassing his own power. Biden presents himself as the guy who cares about the country as a whole and has a long to-do list for the benefit of many. And, perhaps best for Biden, at a time when questions about his age and capabilities have assumed a supersized role in the campaign, he showed he can fight. A State of the Union speech is supposed to be about this country. But they’re usually more about the person delivering them—this one, in particular. Biden deftly used this opportunity to demonstrate that while he may have lost a step or two, he still has the desire and the moves—at least, some of them—to take on a wannabe autocrat and perhaps even save American democracy.
