State of the Union 2023: Biden bashes Republicans, GOP hits back during speech
President Joe Biden delivered his second State of the Union address on Tuesday, marking his first appearance at a joint session of Congress since Republicans took control of the House during the midterm elections.
During his speech, Biden touted his administration’s accomplishments and made a call for unity amid rising tensions over the debt ceiling crisis and looming investigations into the White House.
The president prepared to give the State of the Union address for weeks, reading through several iterations and drafts of his speech in an attempt to ensure the language is clear and relatable for listeners, according to White House aides.
Biden was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, congressional leaders, and both chambers of Congress.
This concludes the Washington Examiner’s live coverage of the State of the Union and subsequent reactions to President Joe Biden’s joint session of Congress. You can follow along with continued coverage over the coming days here.
Republicans’ heckling of President Joe Biden during his second State of the Union address on Tuesday was simply an act of “showbiz,” according to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
During his 72-minute address, Biden elicited strong reactions from his GOP counterparts, particularly for his comments on Medicare and Social Security. At one point, Biden claimed that Republicans want to phase out the two welfare programs — prompting some GOP members to call him a “liar.”
“I think that they were protesting too much. They knew that they had been identified as putting Medicare and Social Security on the table,” Pelosi told CNN on Tuesday night. “And they were trying to dismiss that. But the fact is, it still is part of who they are.”
Biden has spent weeks accusing Republicans of seeking to cut Social Security and Medicare provisions during budget negotiations. The president resurfaced these attacks during his State of the Union address, noting “some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years.”
That comment was a reference to Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who released an 11-point agenda last year that proposed sunsetting all federal laws after five years unless Congress votes to extend them. That plan did not specifically name Medicare or Social Security, but Democrats have used that language to attack the GOP during the midterm elections.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union mirrored the booing and shouts of some of her House colleagues inside the chamber during his speech.
Sanders, who was recently elected, told the public: “Biden and the Democrats have failed you,” drawing a stark divide between the two parties and highlighting what she called the “left-wing culture war.”
Rep. James Comer (R-KY) acknowledged that the decision by embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY) to attend the State of the Union on Tuesday was “questionable,” particularly his choice to sit in an aisle seat.
“Certainly, the fact that he showed up to the State of the Union was questionable but sitting on the aisle to where he could get attention?” Comer told NBC News on Tuesday. “The fact that he was wanting to be in the center of the limelight, it just makes no sense.”
Santos did attract some attention shortly before the speech began after he engaged in a tense back-and-forth with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who told the freshman lawmaker he “shouldn’t have been there.” Santos later responded in a tweet, telling the Utah senator “will NEVER be PRESIDENT,” referring to Romney’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2012.
Comer’s comments come as Santos is under investigation for possible violations of campaign finance laws during the midterm elections. The House Oversight chairman previously said Santos would be removed from Congress if found guilty.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) released an attack ad calling on President Joe Biden to resign from office, criticizing the president for his claims that Republicans are seeking to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits.
In an ad that is set to air in Florida on Wednesday, Scott accuses Biden of cutting roughly $280 billion from Medicare through the Inflation Reduction Act despite claims that the GOP wants to phase out Medicare and Social Security. The Florida senator pointed to a provision in the IRA that would permit Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly with manufacturers, saving the federal government an estimated $280 billion a year without cutting program benefits, according to the Biden administration.
President Joe Biden delivered his second State of the Union address on Tuesday, offering a message that touted his administration’s accomplishments while painting his presidency as a job still yet to be finished — setting the stage for his expected reelection bid.
During his 72-minute address, Biden urged Congress members to “finish the job,” pointing to a number of agenda items that have yet to be achieved during his first two years in office. The speech tried to establish Biden as an effective president deserving of four more years.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) expressed his disapproval of the GOP members that heckled President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Republican lawmakers booed Biden’s comments when it came to accusing Republicans of wanting to get rid of Medicare and Social Security, with lawmakers calling it “delusional” and “divisive.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) yelled “liar” and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) said, “It’s your fault,” when Biden discussed the crisis at the southern border.
However, Manchin, known for working across the aisle and often voting with Republicans, said the jeering was “not acceptable.”
President Joe Biden‘s State of the Union was a preview of how acrimonious his 2024 reelection campaign could be, with his speech repeatedly being interrupted by Republicans, who now control the House.
But Biden’s 72-minute remarks coincide with other challenges to his likely reelection bid amid polling that indicates a majority of the electorate is skeptical of what he achieved during his first term.
President Joe Biden was booed by Congress during his State of the Union address when he said Republicans wanted to cut Medicare and Social Security in order to lower our spending as we reach our debt ceiling limit. However, the Washington Examiner spoke with a number of Republicans just before the State of the Union who mentioned cutting Social Security and Medicaid were off the table.
“Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” Biden said during the State of the Union. This led to an eruption of boos from the audience. Microphones picked up Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) yelling, “Liar!” As cameras turned toward the crowd, viewers could see Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) shaking their heads and waving their arms. Both spoke with Washington Examiner earlier in the day and said they would not consider cutting Medicare and Social Security.
Anti-abortion groups pushed back on the idea that restrictive abortion laws deny treatment to women who face miscarriages after a Texas woman whose life-threatening miscarriage brought attention to the state’s abortion laws last year attended Tuesday’s State of the Union speech as first lady Jill Biden’s guest.
The woman, Amanda Zurawski, had her water break when she was 18 weeks pregnant last year, but her doctors declined to induce labor, citing Texas’s abortion laws that restrict terminating a pregnancy unless the mother’s life is in danger. Zurawski later developed sepsis before receiving medical intervention. Her case has drawn national attention, with abortion rights groups citing her case as an example of the harms of restrictive abortion laws, leading to her invitation to join the first lady in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Abortion opponents, though, said that the laws in question are being misrepresented.
For a father to defend his children is the most natural thing on earth. To weaponize the power of the federal government against this nature is the very opposite of what our forefathers brought forth on this continent. Indeed, it is a twisted perversion of our founders’ vision, but that is what happened to Scott Smith and Mark Houck at the hands of President Joe Biden’s woke and weaponized Department of Justice. And that is why we invited them to the State of the Union — forcing Biden to face the victims of his disgusting abuses of power.
In October 2021, the Biden administration ordered the FBI to target school parents for — rightly — making their opinions known at school board meetings. We know this to be true. Attorney General Garland sent a memo ordering them to do so.
The result — a dad made national headlines for being upset that a school district covered up his daughter’s rape — a true, gross injustice perpetrated in the name of “social justice.” He was not only beaten and bloodied at the school board meeting for doing what any good dad would do; he was smeared by the National School Boards Association and Biden’s Department of Justice as a domestic terrorist. But the truth won out. In Loudoun County, where Scott Smith was bloodied, the since-fired school superintendent now faces three misdemeanor charges from a grand jury for his handling of the rape of Scott Smith’s daughter.
President Joe Biden faced a rowdy response from Republicans Tuesday who shouted and booed at the commander in chief during his State of the Union address before a divided Congress.
In addition to Biden’s back-and-forth with the GOP during various parts of his 72-minute address, Republicans also squabbled with each other on the House floor.
Here are some of the most spirited and emotional moments from inside the House chamber during Biden’s address:
1. Republicans, Biden spar over president’s allegation GOP wants to sunset Medicare and Social Security
Biden’s remarks accusing some Republicans of wanting “Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years,” with the risk of the programs going away if Congress fails to renew it, was met with strong pushback from Republican lawmakers, who loudly booed his comments. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) even stood and yelled “liar” from the back of the chamber.
President Joe Biden listed several policy priorities in his State of the Union address.
Biden’s speech largely focused on an optimistic vision for America’s economy and a blueprint for the future, featuring a litany of Democratic priorities. Of note, while some policy initiatives are more bipartisan than others, many are more aspirational and have virtually no chance of coming to fruition in the next two years, given the Republican Party’s control of the House.
Here are four of the biggest pitches:
Billionaire tax
Cancer Moonshot
Cracking down on fentanyl
Stock buybacks tax
President Joe Biden’s calls during his State of the Union address for immigration reform and a better federal response to fentanyl smuggling at the border were met with fury by Republicans.
As the border crisis headed into its third year, Biden took the podium inside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening and pressured Democrats and Republicans to unite and overhaul U.S. immigration policy.
“America’s border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts,” said Biden.
The best thing that can be said about President Joe Biden’s second State of the Union address last night is that a record-low number of people wasted their time watching it. It was a laundry list of nanny statism, promising that not even the tiniest detail of people’s lives will be free from federal interference — not “resort fees” nor “targeted advertising” on social media.
Biden talked of big-ticket items as well. He rehashed every element of his dreadful “Build Back Better” agenda, from new spending on government-run daycare to higher taxes on the “wealthy,” except now he’s pitching the same stale agenda under the banner “Let’s finish the job.” No thanks.
Biden insisted that a good chunk of the government spending he got through Congress in his first two years will “create jobs in communities too often left behind.” This, he claimed, is part of his “blue-collar blueprint” for the economy. This was, however, not an expression of confidence and strength but an unconvincing effort to repair his party’s credibility.
President Joe Biden misrepresented the history of insulin during his State of the Union address Tuesday.
“[Insulin] has been around for over a hundred years. The guy who invented it didn’t even patent it because he wanted it to be available for everyone,” Biden said.
While getting the timeline roughly correct, Biden misrepresented how insulin came about as well as the patent process.
Insulin was not “invented,” it was discovered. Canadian surgeon Frederick Banting and his assistant Charles Best discovered how to extract insulin from a dog’s pancreas in 1921. The first human was injected with the substance in 1922 after a refinement and purification process was developed, according to the American Diabetes Association.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) sat stoically behind President Joe Biden during his first State of the Union address with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, a stark contrast to his predecessor, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
The speaker of the House remained largely expressionless, but there were several notable moments when the California Republican reacted to the president’s speech.
As Biden called for raising the debt ceiling “without preconditions or crisis,” McCarthy was seen shaking his head. He was also seen disapproving when the president said Republicans want to take the economy hostage in a portion of the speech about the debt ceiling negotiations with Republicans.
President Joe Biden slammed oil companies for earning unprecedented profits in 2022 and accused them of doing too little with their high earnings to alleviate high energy prices.
Biden, during his State of the Union address Tuesday, repeated charges that oil majors invested too little to increase production after oil prices skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prices remained above $100 per barrel for months before falling, which helped drive retail gasoline prices to a nominal record over the summer.
ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell all reported record earnings for the year. BP, the last of the four to post fourth quarter and year-end earnings on Tuesday, brought in $27.6 billion compared to its previous record of $26 billion set in 2008.
Conservative lawmakers including Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Chip Roy (TX) stood up for President Joe Biden’s comments about fixing the country’s broken tax system.
His comments elicited cheers from Democrats and several Republicans. Gaetz, Roy, and Boebert are considered to be part of the right flank of the Republican conference.
“And I think a lot of you at home agree with me that our present tax system is simply unfair,” he said, prompting the round of applause.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) called President Joe Biden a “liar” after the president attacked an 11-point agenda the Florida Republican released last year that would sunset all federal laws after five years unless Congress votes to extend them.
Democrats used Scott’s plan heavily in the last election cycle to argue that Republicans want to phase out Medicare and Social Security. Although the sunset language does not specifically name the programs, they nonetheless used the plan as midterm fodder to attack the GOP.
“Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” the president said to jeers and boos from Republicans at his Tuesday night address. “I’m not saying it’s a majority of you, I’m politely not naming them, but it’s being proposed by some of you,” he said, referring to Scott’s plan indirectly.
Scott responded angrily to the accusation after the address.
Former President Donald Trump offered his own live commentary of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, saying Biden’s performance was “not a pretty sight.”
Trump, who is the only declared Republican candidate for the 2024 race, gave his thoughts on the address in real time on his social media platform Truth Social.
The former president mocked Biden for saying “buy American,” quipping that he was “allowing Foreign Countries to steal all of our jobs” and that “you can only have one or the other!”
He also slammed Biden for his handling of the southern border and ridiculed his constant talk about infrastructure, suggesting Biden was actually using those funds for the “Green New Deal.”
The coronavirus pandemic may be over in the minds of most people, and the Biden administration may be ending its COVID-19 national emergency in May. But we should still be living in fear of the virus — according to MSNBC, at least!
When Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) appeared to be the only State of the Union attendee wearing a mask on Tuesday, MSNBC hosts began sniping at the crowd. “A thousand people in that room … I know this is wrong, but it does give me the ‘ughs’ a little bit to see the average age in this room and then to see precisely one mask,” host Rachel Maddow said.
Another host agreed, adding that the “optics” aren’t good. The hosts then lamented that Biden would soon be ending the COVID-19 emergency, saying it would take away free tests and treatment.
House Republicans blasted President Joe Biden for omitting any explicit mention of the Chinese spy balloon that floated over the United States last week in his State of the Union address.
Lawmakers called Biden’s approach to China in the speech “weak,” “embarrassing,” and “ridiculous,” following the annual remarks to a joint session of Congress.
Biden said, “If China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country, and we did,” however, he didn’t talk explicitly about the balloon that gripped the nation in the days leading up to the State of the Union.
President Joe Biden used the State of the Union to style himself as the guardian of Social Security and Medicare and accused Republicans of jeopardizing the programs, eliciting boos from the crowd and prompting a back-and-forth with members of the GOP.
Biden said some Republicans want to “take the economy hostage” unless he agrees with their economic plans, despite House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) already saying those programs won’t be part of debt limit negotiations.
“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years,” Biden said. “That means if Congress doesn’t vote to keep them, those programs will go away. Other Republicans say if we don’t cut Social Security and Medicare, they’ll let America default on its debt for the first time in our history.”
President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address highlighted one of the defining dilemmas of his term at the halfway point.
The mission of Biden’s presidency is to move the country past former President Donald Trump, whom he often lovingly calls “my predecessor.”
Yet Biden still needs Trump as a comparison point and possibly even as a 2024 general election opponent.
More than two years into Biden’s term, we are still living in the Trump era.
President Joe Biden began his State of the Union address with a message of hope and resurgence, “progress and resilience.”
“Two years ago, our economy was reeling. As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs, more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years. Two years ago, COVID had shut down our businesses, closed our schools, and robbed us of so much. Today, COVID no longer controls our lives.”
There’s a lie buried in there, of course. Two years ago, it was not COVID-19 that closed our schools and robbed us of so much. In February 2021, the coronavirus was not keeping schools closed. Democrats were.
The Washington Examiner spoke to members of Congress and asked what they wished President Joe Biden would mention in his State of the Union address. Many focused on the economy as voters are seeing record-high inflation.
“Biden will try and paint our economy as rosy and that everything is great like he has been saying all along,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) said. “Which is completely not the reality the American people are facing.”
There is a long list of issues the country is facing, some that Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) believes have only gotten worse during the Biden administration. “He’s going to say he’s beat inflation but that’s not true,” said Donalds. “He’s not going to mention the border because it’s a disaster. He’s not going to mention fentanyl because it’s the No. 1 killer of people between the ages of 18 and 45.
President Joe Biden evaded a handshake from embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY) while acknowledging other Republicans in his walk down the House chamber aisle.
Biden appeared to make eye contact with Santos, at least from the vantage point of some viewers, but they didn’t acknowledge each other beyond that. Other conservative lawmakers, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Tim Burchett (R-TN), shook hands with the president.
Here he’s shaking hands with Rep. Mariannette Miller Meeks (R-Iowa) and Rep. Santos looks like he was going to try to go in for it https://t.co/YXKEu5y9YK pic.twitter.com/kHJQ7zh474
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) February 8, 2023
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) voiced distress and bewilderment at the Republican jeering that was heard throughout portions of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
“It’s really shocking even the things that the overall Republican Party refused to stand for: paying public school teachers … raising the wage for some of our lowest-paid workers,” Ocasio-Cortez told MSNBC. “This should be really basic stuff, sky is blue kind of stuff.”
Prior to the speech, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) urged his members not to heckle the president and to be cordial during his address. At times, McCarthy was seen visibly shushing members.
Rep. @AOC (D-NY): “It’s really shocking even the things that the overall Republican Party refused to stand for: paying public school teachers … raising the wage for some of our lowest-paid workers … This should be really basic stuff, sky is blue kind of stuff.” pic.twitter.com/Zj46W1sIie
— The Recount (@therecount) February 8, 2023
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) was spotted sporting a flamboyant yellow dress while chatting with her Republican colleagues prior to Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address.
The dress drew attention on social media. It’s a striking departure from her more modestly dressed colleagues.
Others were less than charitable toward her fashion choice and mocked her appearance with comparisons to characters such as Tweety Bird from Looney Tunes and Big Bird from Sesame Street.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AK) slammed President Joe Biden’s record on inflation and accused Democrats of waging a culture war staked to left-wing orthodoxies during the Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union address.
In remarks from Little Rock, Arkansas, Sanders argued that the Biden administration blundered the response to a national cost of living crisis while failing to protect American freedoms.
“Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire. But you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race,” Sanders said. “Whether Joe Biden believes this madness, or [is] simply too weak to resist it, his administration has been completely hijacked by the radical left.”
President Joe Biden‘s first State of the Union address to a Republican-controlled House was pitched as an opportunity for the commander in chief to build consensus around his so-called “Unity Agenda” before a likely 2024 reelection campaign.
But tensions between Biden and the Republicans were evident during his prime-time speech, which last year reached at least 27 million people, as he was routinely interrupted with almost as many jeers as cheers.
Biden’s State of the Union address sets the stage for his 2024 reelection bid, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, and the tone of his relationship with House Republicans for the next two years.
Following their tiff on the House floor, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) snapped back at Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).
“Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT,” Santos tweeted.
Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT! https://t.co/ANxiQPxAua
— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) February 8, 2023
Romney confronted Santos, who had an aisle seat, while entering the House floor and told him that he didn’t belong in Congress.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) shushed members of his party as they heckled President Joe Biden over his handling of the southern border.
Sitting behind Biden as the president delivered the State of the Union address, McCarthy tried subtly to keep decorum in his caucus while several members chanted, “Border! Border!”
“We now have a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers and seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months,” Biden said, prompting the outburst. “Since we launched our new border plan last month, unlawful migration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela has come down 97%. But America’s border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts.”
McCarthy again tried to keep control over the Republicans during Biden’s remarks on China. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) shouted a remark on China, and McCarthy again shushed her.
McCarthy forced to shush his own caucus pic.twitter.com/ri2zilqyxj
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) February 8, 2023
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) opened up about his dust-up with Rep. George Santos (R-NY) ahead of the State of the Union address, recounting how he directly told Santos he didn’t belong there.
“He’s a sick puppy. He shouldn’t have been there,” Romney said, according to a report. “Given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and being quiet instead of parading in front of the president.”
ROMNEY on what he said to @Santos4Congress: “He’s a sick puppy, he shouldn’t have been there.”
“Given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation he should be sitting in the back row and being quiet instead of parading in front of the president.”
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) February 8, 2023
Santos had an aisle seat during the speech, giving him direct access to heavyweight politicians who walked down the House chambers.
Four Supreme Court justices skipped President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, and Neil Gorsuch were notably absent for reasons that are not clear. The five that sat for his speech were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Notably, this was Jackson’s first State of the Union address. Justices historically attend the speech and try to refrain from applauding or grimacing in order to distance the high court from political banter.
At one point during his remarks, Biden alluded to the historical nature of Jackson’s appointment to the Supreme Court as the first black female justice.
President Joe Biden’s address to the joint session of Congress and the nation has concluded.
In his parting message from his somewhat feisty speech, President Joe Biden conveyed that the “state of our union is strong.”
Biden explained that he was not “new to this place” and “served as long as about any one of you have ever served.”
“I’ve never been more optimistic about our future, about the future America. Just remember who we are for the United States of America, and there’s nothing, nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together. God bless you all. May God protect our troops,” Biden said near the conclusion of his speech.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) told Rep. George Santos (R-NY), “You don’t belong here,” during a brief exchange upon the senator’s entrance into the House chambers.
Santos took an aisle seat in order to interact with high-profile politicians as they entered the House floor. He is facing a firestorm over revelations that he falsified elements of his resume and personal backstory.
NEWS: I’m told Sen. Mitt Romney said to Rep. bill George Santos: “You don’t belong here,” according to a member who witnessed the tense exchange. https://t.co/Kjvollt6gz
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) February 8, 2023
Republicans erupted in the House chamber after President Joe Biden called upon the Congress to enact bipartisan immigration reform and a path to citizenship for Dreamers.
Someone was heard saying “order” as members booed and jeered at the president.
“America’s border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts,” Biden said. “If you won’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border. And a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farm workers, and essential workers.”
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) took aim at President Joe Biden for heartily boasting about vetoing legislation that would almost certainly not make its way to his desk.
“He loves threatening vetoes of bills that have no chance of making it to his desk,” Garbarino said.
Throughout his speech, Biden threatened to veto cuts to Social Security and Medicare — a policy that Republican leadership insists the GOP is not pursuing. He also threatened to veto legislation aimed at restricting abortion, something that is unlikely to clear the Senate.
A thunderous applause filled the House chamber when President Joe Biden urged the Congress to codify a national right to abortion.
“Congress must restore the right the Supreme Court took away last year and codify Roe v. Wade to protect every woman’s constitutional right to choose,” Biden said. “The vice president and I are doing everything we can to protect access to reproductive healthcare and safeguard patient privacy. But already, more than a dozen states are enforcing extreme abortion bans.”
Multiple Democrats donned pins with the word “abortion” or brought abortion rights activists to his speech.
Speaking from the podium before a joint session of Congress, President Joe Biden implored legislators to ban semi-automatic firearms.
Hearkening back to how Brandon Tsay wrestled a firearm away from a gunman, Biden argued that it was time to prohibit several semi-automatic weapons.
“He saved lives. It’s time we do the same as well,” Biden said. “Ban assault weapons once and for all. We did it before. I led the fight to ban them in 1994.”
Former President Donald Trump speculated that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was struggling to stay awake during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
“Kevin McCarthy, who is a great guy, is having a seriously hard time staying awake. I give him credit for being true to himself and the cause. He is just not interested in what is being fed to the audience,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump also knocked Biden for being too forceful during his speech and using the word “folks” too much during his speech.
“He seems to be very angry, shouting into the mic, when he’s trying to come across as conciliatory. Perhaps somebody should walk up to the dais, tap him on the shoulder, and say, ‘Be cool,'” Trump added.
The former president has been giving a play-by-play analysis, gleefully tearing into his successor’s feted speech via his Truth Social platform.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) yelled at President Joe Biden to “end the mandate” during remarks about COVID-19.
“While the virus is not gone, thanks to the resilience of the American people, we have broken COVID’s grip on us. COVID deaths are down nearly 90%. We’ve saved millions of lives and opened our country back up. And soon, we’ll end the public health emergency,” Biden said during the speech.
“Congress needs to fund these efforts and keep America safe,” he added.
President Joe Biden touted his administration’s efforts to combat “junk” fees used by airlines and declared that companies should not treat children like luggage.
“They can’t treat your children like a piece of luggage,” Biden declared.
His remarks come as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is eyeing legislation to address working conditions at airports.
“My administration is also taking on ‘junk’ fees, those hidden surcharges too many businesses use to make you pay more,” Biden said. “For example, we’re making airlines show you the full ticket price upfront and refund your money if your flight is canceled or delayed.”
“Baggage fees are bad enough – they can’t just treat your child like a piece of luggage. Americans are tired of being played for suckers. Pass the Junk Fee Prevention Act so companies stop ripping us off.”
— President Biden#StateOfTheUnion
— Charlotte Clymer ?? (@cmclymer) February 8, 2023
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) lashed out at President Joe Biden, calling him a “liar” when he accused the GOP of gearing up to cut Social Security and Medicare.
“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security [cuts],” Biden declared to sporadic boos. “I’ll give you a copy. I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.”
A bevy of other Republicans similarly jeered at Biden over his remarks in which he slammed Republicans over the debt limit.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has flatly denied claims the GOP is planning to cut Medicare and Social Security during this session of Congress.
He’s a liar. #sotu https://t.co/BHlttnnaUS
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene?? (@RepMTG) February 8, 2023
President Joe Biden drew a thunderous slew of boos and jeers from Republicans enraged by his remarks that alluded to the debt ceiling crisis.
“On the previous administration, the American deficit went up four years in a row. Because those record deficits, no president added more to the national debt,” Biden said to boos.
“Check it out,” he shot back.
Undeterred by the backlash, Biden continued down his planned lines as he ripped the GOP over the debt ceiling.
“So my many, some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage,” Biden said to jeers.
“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security [cuts],” the president continued despite sporadic boos. “I’ll give you a copy. I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has flatly denied claims the GOP is planning to cut Medicare and Social Security during this session of Congress.
A cacophony of boos emerged after President Joe Biden bragged about increasing taxes on corporations.
“We paid for these investments are our future by finally making the wealthiest and biggest corporations begin to pay their fair share,” Biden said.
One GOP lawmaker told the Washington Examiner that “he’s delusional” during Biden’s tax remarks.
President Joe Biden lavished praise on Vice President Kamala Harris, hailing her for ensuring small businesses enjoyed access to capital.
“Madam vice president, I want to thank you for leading that effort to ensure the small business have access to capital and the historic laws were enacted that are going to just come in to be standing here last year,” Biden said.
He later compared his infrastructure achievements to Eisenhower.
“Now we’re coming back because we came together to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest investment in infrastructure since President Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System,” Biden boasted.
