U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union tackle on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 7, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
A spirited President Joe Biden delivered a fiery, partisan State of the Union tackle on Thursday, match for an election yr with enormously excessive stakes in a divided nation.
“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today,” Biden mentioned early within the speech.
“What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack, both at home and overseas, at the very same time,” he mentioned.
“Overseas, [President Vladimir] Putin of Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond. If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not,” the president mentioned to cheers from Democrats and a applause to smattering of Republicans.
“My message to President Putin is simple. We will not walk away. We will not bow down. I will not bow down,” Biden mentioned.
The president additionally celebrated Sweden’s ascension into NATO earlier within the day, as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson sat to the left of First Woman Jill Biden in her visitor field.
US First Woman Jill Biden alongside Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson waves throughout US President Joe Biden’s State of the Union tackle within the Home Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2024.
Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Photographs
On home coverage, Biden was much more confrontational than he was on international affairs, repeatedly calling out Republicans and sparring dwell on TV with among the loudest voices within the GOP caucus.
As a coterie of conservative Supreme Court docket justices sat simply toes away from him, Biden excoriated them overturning the reproductive rights enshrined in Roe vs. Wade.
“In its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court majority wrote that, ‘women are not without…electoral or political power’,” Biden mentioned.
Then he paused and mentioned to them, “You’re about to realize just how much.” With that, Democrats within the chamber jumped to their toes and clapped and cheered.
Biden additionally went toe to toe with Republicans over a border safety invoice.
“In November, my team began serious negotiations with a bipartisan group of senators. The result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest set of border security reforms we’ve ever seen in this country,” mentioned Biden.
U.S. Consultant Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) yells at U.S. President Joe Biden as he delivers the State of the Union tackle on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 7, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
As Republicans booed the invoice that they agreed to within the Senate, however then sunk within the Home, Biden turned to his left, the place Republican members had been seated.
“Oh, you don’t think so? You don’t like that bill, huh? Darn, that’s amazing,” he mentioned.
“Because that bipartisan deal would hire 1,500 more border security agents and officers, 100 more immigration judges to help tackle a backload of 2 million cases.”
Repeatedly, Biden met Republican interruptions and boos in actual time with quips and jabs that appeared to disarm them.
Total, the speech was a transparent, and efficient, effort to convey to the general public and to his get together that he’s a candidate prepared for a struggle in November.