Biden said “freedom and democracy” are “under attack.”
Washington:
President Joe Biden launched his State of the Union address on Thursday with a blistering attack on his “dangerous” November presidential election opponent Donald Trump, warning that American democracy was “under attack.”
At the dramatic start of his speech, Biden said he wanted to “awaken Congress and alert the American people” to the danger.
Biden said “freedom and democracy” are “under attack.”
He then took aim at Trump, saying the Republican was “bowing” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and vowing to cheers from Democrats: “I will not bow.”
In one of the most important speeches of his long political career, the 81-year-old Democrat aimed to ease concerns about his age, portraying himself as the only alternative to the anti-democratic Trump in November’s presidential election. .
He arrived at the Capitol to cheers and chants of “four more years” from supporters.
But in a sign of the multiple challenges Biden faces, including from the Democratic left, protesters opposed to his support for Israel’s war against Hamas tried to block a motorcade from the White House to Congress.
The annual presidential speech, which has ranged in duration from about an hour to more than 90 minutes in past years, gives Biden a chance to lay out his campaign platform as the battle to stop Trump’s sudden resurgence begins in earnest.
Biden is not expected to mention Trump by name, but in excerpts released earlier by the White House, he took a clear dig at the 77-year-old Republican, who refuses to accept that he is A loser in the 2020 election, he currently holds a narrow lead over Biden in the polls.
“My life has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy,” Biden said in the excerpt. “Now, some people my age are seeing a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge and retribution. That’s not who I am.”
Biden has frequently portrayed Trump, who was twice impeached as president and faces multiple criminal prosecutions, including for the January 2021 attack on the Capitol, as an existential threat to American democracy.
“The Greatest Comeback”
In his speech, Biden lashed out at Republican abortion opponents, saying they “know nothing about the power of American women,” an issue Democrats view as a key to winning votes.
He also touted the booming U.S. economy, even as Americans remain unhappy about high prices and polls show many say their economic fortunes have not improved.
“In thousands of cities and towns, the American people are writing the greatest story of recovery ever told,” Biden said.
The Democrat is also expected to deal with the Gaza war and anger from the left and the Arab-American community over his strong support for Israel’s war against Hamas.
His announcement in a speech that he had ordered U.S. forces to build a port on the Gaza coast to bring in more aid reflected serious political pressure from many in his own party.
Before the speech, Trump accused Biden of causing “horrible destruction” during his three years in office, focusing on the record number of migrants crossing the Mexican border.
“It’s time to tell Crooked Joe Biden — you’re fired,” Trump said in a “pre-rebuttal” video, using a catchphrase from his former reality TV show “The Apprentice.”
age issue
For the millions of Americans tuning into the event, they will be most interested not just in what Biden says before a joint session of Congress, but also in whether he avoids serious verbal or even physical gaffes.
Republicans on the right like Marjorie Taylor Greene are expected to question Biden as they did last year.
As is tradition, first lady Jill Biden will host a select number of guests to highlight White House priorities.
This year, they include a Texas woman who was forced to leave the state for an abortion, a woman who stopped receiving in vitro fertilization treatments due to an Alabama court ruling, and the prime minister of Sweden, who on Thursday became the newest member of NATO.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
