Commercial Appeal | Gannett News
WASHINGTON ― President Joe Biden called on Americans to look to “the future” and not return to the politics of his predecessor in a State of the Union address Thursday that served as the kickoff to a general election rematch against Donald Trump.
In a feisty address to the nation, a defiant Biden framed his race against Trump as forward-versus-backward and sought to convince Americans of a historic economic rebound despite their lingering anxieties.
Biden never mentioned Trump by name in his speech, which clocked in at 1 hour and 8 minutes, but took aim at “my predecessor” throughout. The 81-year-old Biden tried to flip concerns about his age by saying “other people my age” – a clear reference to Trump – see an “American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution.”
“My fellow Americans, the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are. It’s how old our ideas are,” Biden said. “Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among the oldest of ideas. But you can’t lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back.”
Here are five takeaways from Biden’s State of the Union speech:
‘Freedom and democracy’ kick off attacks on Trump
Biden, in remarks that often sounded like a campaign speech, began with an immediate attack on Trump by casting the fight ahead as one to preserve “freedom and democracy” − the central theme of his candidacy.
“What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack, both at home and overseas, at the very same time,” Biden said after quoting Abraham Lincoln.
Biden argued for continued funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia. And he said the U.S. must remain part of NATO, singling out recent comments from Trump that he might not come to the aid of European nations if they’re attacked by Russia.
“It wasn’t that long ago when a Republican President, Ronald Reagan, thundered, ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,’ Biden said. “Now, my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, ‘Do whatever the hell you want.’ A former American president actually said that, bowing down to a Russian leader.”
Biden next brought up the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, saying, “the insurrectionists were not patriots” and calling it “the gravest threat to our democracy since the Civil War.”
“My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth of Jan 6. I will not do that,” Biden said. “This is a moment to speak the truth and bury the lies. And here’s the simplest truth. You can’t love your country only when you win.”
Abortion and IVF take center stage
Biden made restoring abortion rights a major theme of his speech, blaming Trump for the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 by appointing three justices who tilted the court’s conservative majority.
“He’s the reason it was overturned. In fact, he brags about it,” Biden said.
Democratic women members of Congress sat together wearing all white in a symbolic display of their support for reproductive rights.
Biden and Democrats intend to campaign aggressively on abortion rights after advocates have produced victories across the nation since Roe’s overturning. Biden has said he would sign into law legislation codifying Roe’s abortion protections.
“Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America,” Biden said. “But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and won in 2022, 2023, and we’ll win again in 2024.”
Biden seized on the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision last month that frozen embryos should be considered children under state law. He recognized one of his State of the Union guests in the crowd, an Alabama mother of a 14-month-old girl who she had through in vitro fertilization, or IVF.
“History is watching another assault on freedom,” Biden said. “To my friends across the aisle, don’t keep families waiting any longer. Guarantee the right to IVF nationwide.”
Heated confrontation with MTG over the border
Biden renewed his call for congressional Republicans to help pass border legislation that was negotiated by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, igniting a heated confrontation with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and other Republicans.
“Oh you don’t think so? You don’t like that bill?” Biden said as he was getting heckled and roundly booed by Republicans. “Look at the facts. I know you know how to read,” he said.
Then Greene − wearing a red Make America Great Again hat − yelled from her seat for Biden to say the name of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was killed last month. An undocumented immigrant was charged with her murder.
“Lincoln Riley,” Biden responded back, mistaking Riley’s first name, and holding up a button in her honor. “An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal.”
The border bill died in the Senate. Biden blamed Trump for ordering Republicans to tank the legislation − which includes some of the strongest border enforcement measures the U.S. has passed in decades − in order to deny him a win politically.
“If my predecessor is watching instead of playing politics and pressuring members of Congress to block this bill, join me in telling Congress to pass it,” Biden said. “We can do it together.”
Biden has embraced stronger rhetoric amid record-setting crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border and argued Republicans are standing in the way of much-needed action. His approach is part of a difficult push to turn border control, a historical liability for Democrats, into an election win.
Seeking to differentiate his positions with Trump, Biden added he will not “demonize immigrants saying they ‘poison the blood of our country’ as (Trump) said in his own words. I will not separate families.”
Reviving the debate on corporate, billionaire tax hikes
Biden proposed new tax hikes on corporations and billionaires, reviving a debate that his campaign will use to attack Trump in the months ahead.
He also sought to tell a narrative of a historic economic comeback, calling it the “greatest story never told” − a nod at his struggle to get credit for the nation’s booming jobs market and other positive economic trends.
Biden called for Congress to reverse the corporate tax rate cut that Trump and congressional Republicans passed in 2017 by raising the rate from 21% to 28%. He proposed a new minimum on the largest billion-dollar corporations − which he signed into law in 2022 − from 15% to 21%.
He also referenced new proposals to deny tax deductions for corporations that pay any employee more than $1 million and to close a loophole that gives tax breaks to owners of corporate jets.
None of those plans are going to pass in the Republican-controlled House, particularly during an election year. But they allow Biden to contrast his economic agenda versus Trump’s in an appeal to working-class voters.
“Folks at home, does anybody really think the tax code is fair?” Biden said. “Do you really think the wealthy and big corporations need another $2 trillion in tax breaks? I sure don’t. I’m going to keep fighting like hell to make it fair.”
Israel put on notice
Biden, facing immense pressure from progressives over the war in Gaza, called for Israel to “do its part” to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip,” Biden said. “Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.”
The Biden administration’s efforts to secure a six-week pause in Israel’s war against Hamas that would include the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza has stalled, lacking support from Hamas.
To help transport more aid into Gaza, Biden announced the U.S. military will launch an emergency mission to build a port on the Gaza coast along the Mediterranean Sea. U.S. military personnel will assist from vessels offshore, but the operation is not expected to involve U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza.
Biden has taken enormous heat from the left for his unwavering support for Israel during the war in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied on Pennsylvania Avenue Thursday night, seeking to block Biden’s motorcade on the way to the Capitol.
Biden said Israel has a “fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza,” while renewing his call for a two-state solution. “There is no other path,” he said.
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.