President Joe Biden is delivering his third State of the Union address, one that could be among the most important speeches he gives during his presidency as he turns toward reelection.
Here are some early takeaways from Biden’s annual message to Congress, which will be updated throughout the speech:
Biden may not utter his predecessor’s name during his remarks, but there was little question that Donald Trump was at the very center of the State of the Union, making Thursday’s speech one of the most politically tinged yearly addresses in recent memory.
The president took multiple swipes at Trump, including in the very opening of his speech, referring to “my predecessor” while lambasting the former president for his statement about encouraging Russia to invade NATO members who don’t meet defense spending targets.
Shortly after, he went after election lies following the 2020 election as the “gravest threat to democracy” since the Civil War.
“My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6,” Biden said of the 2021 attack on the US Capitol, going on to say you can’t “only love your country when you win.”
It was as clear a sign as any of how Biden views the upcoming general election campaign, with nothing less than the future of American democracy on the ballot. And even as he works to tout his own accomplishments, as important for Biden was warning what might happen should Trump return to office.
Foreign policy typically takes a backseat during State of the Union speeches; the intended audience is Congress and the American people and their concerns are usually within US borders.
But for reasons not entirely within his control, Biden is a foreign policy president at a moment of deep…
Read the full article here
