Republicans have sought to hang the label “Sleepy Joe” on President Biden, as a way of exploiting public concern over age and gait of America’s 46th President.
The question can now be put: “Sleepy Who?” Biden addressed the nation tonight in a feisty, energetic campaign-style State of the Union speech. He decried the policies of “my predecessor” — not once speaking the name of Donald Trump — and openly, enjoyably sparred with Republican lawmakers.
“The issue facing our nation is not how old we are, it’s how old our ideas are?” said Biden, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 at the age of twenty-nine.
The speech began with passionate advocacy for U.S. military aid to Ukraine and turning back Russia’s invasion. “I say this to Congress: We have to stand up to Putin… We will not walk away; we will not bow down. I will not bow down”.
He flagged Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, seated beside Jill Biden in the House gallery: “Welcome to NATO.” Sweden just joined the alliance today, reinvigorated following Putin’s escalation of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
But Biden went further, evoking Ronald Reagan’s famous words in a Berlin speech: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
In contrast, Biden cited a recent, reckless speech by Trump, in which the Republicans leader told listeners, If NATO members fall back on their military contributions to the alliance, he would tell Putin, “Do whatever the hell you want.”
The reaction to Biden’s speech on Twitter was of sarcasm disguising shock by Republicans. “Why is Biden snarling and shouting?” asked FNC host Laura Ingraham. Republican strategist and pollster Frank Luntz added: “Let’s see whether undecided voters like being yelled at.”
Recently minted House Speaker Mike Johnson, seated behind Biden, was the most uncomfortable figure of the night. He stayed put as Vice President Kamala Harris jumped to her feet for repeated standing ovations by Democrats, and remained silent at Biden took on ultra MAGA Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“As President speaks to Congress, this House Speaker smirks and scowls from behind” wrote historian Michael Beschloss. Ex-Obama White House aide Stephanie Cutter chimed in: “Michael Johnson should have practiced his non-expression face in front of a mirror. He doesn’t know what the hell to do right now.”
The Biden speech dealt with great global and domestic issues — “Democracy is under attack” — but also Americans’ everyday annoyances over junk fees attached to airplane tickets, credit card late fees and the mysterious shrinking size of a Snickers candy bar (shrinkflation, which Robert Reich has been highlighting).
Biden assailed Republicans’ 2017 tax cut for showering money on the already-rich and said he will ask Congress to impose a tax on the country’s thousand or so billionaires. “Does anybody believe our tax code is fair?” he asked.
“No!” bellowed Democrats in the chamber.
A surprising chunk of the speech was aimed at younger voters, whose votes have fueled Democratic victories over Trump-backed candidates. Biden called for an end to criminal penalties against recreational users of marijuana. He called out a survivor of the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre, pledging: “I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence.”
The President called for a nationwide ban on assault weapons with high-capacity magazines, used in mass killings from Uvalde to Buffalo to El Paso.
Biden had to navigate two fraught and highly emotional issues. The President reiterated his longstanding support of Israel — and revulsion at Hamas’ slaughter of 1,200 Israelis last October — but stated: “As we look to the future, the only real solution is a two-state solution over time”. With starvation threatening thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza, he announced the U.S. will install a temporary pier on the Gaza coast to funnel in emergency supplies.
Biden mocked House Republicans for scuttling a Senate-negotiated border plan — at Trump’s direction— but reiterated America’s history as a nation built by immigrants. He singled out a particularly ugly Trump remark, saying, “I will not demonize immigrants saying they poison the blood of our country.”
The Democrats deserve to be energized at Biden’s speech.
An instant CNN poll gave him high marks. “He gave a master class in how to defend America’s future and the future of our democracy,” said longtime Democratic strategist and pundit Donna Brazile.
The President was feeling good as well. Speaker Johnson turned down the lights, but Biden happily lingered for an hour glad handing on the House floor. One lawmaker he talked to was Seattle’s United States Representative Pramila Jayapal.
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