The tone was set very quickly. From the first minutes of his major annual State of the Union speech, Joe Biden targeted his rival Donald Trump, Thursday evening, March 7, at the Capitol in Washington.
The war in Ukraine served as a springboard for attacks by the American president against his most likely Republican competitor in the November presidential election. In the imposing hemicycle of Congress, to the cheers of his standing camp and while the Republican opposition remained seated, the Democrat assured that he would never “bow” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“My predecessor, a former Republican president, told Putin: 'Do what you want.' I quote him. A former president actually said that, submitting to a Russian leader. I think it's scandalous. This is dangerous, and it is unacceptable! “, he said, without pronouncing the name of Donald Trump. The Democratic president urged Congress to support Ukraine to “stop Putin,” as crucial aid for kyiv remains blocked by Republican opposition.
Trump, symbol of “rancor, vengeance and revenge”
“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have our freedom and democracy been under attack in our country as they are today,” he also proclaimed. Joe Biden wanted to design “a future based on the fundamental values that define America: honesty, moral strength, dignity, equality”. “And now someone my age is telling another story, that of an America turned towards resentment, vengeance and revenge,” he added in a clear allusion to his 77-year-old rival.
Donald Trump has promised to take “revenge” for his 2020 defeat, which he never acknowledged, and for the legal proceedings piling up against him. On Thursday, he accused the Democrat of having transformed the United States into a “horror film” and demanded a debate with him.
Faced with the rhetoric of “decline” chanted by Donald Trump, Joe Biden assured that America was experiencing “the greatest rebound” in its history under his presidency, after the Covid-19 pandemic which had brought the leading economy to its knees. worldwide.
“I inherited an economy that was on the brink of collapse. Now our economy is literally the envy of the entire world. Fifteen million jobs have been created in three years, it’s a record. And the unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in 50 years,” he said. This outlines “a future full of promise”, according to Joe Biden, determined to play the optimism card against his rival.
Immigration and abortion, two central themes
He also wanted to mark the difference with the latter on the question of immigration. “I will not demonize migrants by saying that they are ‘poisoning the blood of our country’,” he said, in reference to recent comments by Donald Trump, without naming him. “We can argue about the border or we can settle the problem,” he said, calling on Congress to pass a border control bill.
A few hours before the State of the Union speech, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives adopted a bill that provides for the arrest of any immigrant convicted of theft or burglary. This text was called the "Laken Riley Act", after the name of a student killed in February by an illegal Venezuelan immigrant, according to the police, and who became for conservatives a symbol of crime attributed to migrants, for which they blame Joe Biden.
“To his parents, I say: my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself. I understand,” declared the Democrat from the podium, showing a badge in honor of the student, which Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a fervent supporter of Donald Trump, had handed to him when he entered the chamber. decked out in full “Make America great again” (MAGA) gear, the slogan of the former president.
Joe Biden also castigated the cancellation of the federal guarantee of abortion, one of the major themes of the campaign, promising to “restore” this protection if Americans elect a Congress favorable to the “right to choose”.
“Clearly, those who brag about [overturning federal protection of abortion rights by the Supreme Court] have no idea of the power of women in America,” he said. “But they realized it when the freedom to dispose of one's body was at stake at the ballot box and won in 2022 and 2023, and they will realize it again in 2024,” he added. Catholic who wants to defend the right to abortion.
He works for a ceasefire in Gaza
In terms of form, Joe Biden was combative during the hour that his speech lasted, at a time when concerns and criticism about his age continued to rise. In the traditional opposition response to the presidential speech, Republican Senator Katie Britt must, according to extracts, attack Joe Biden on his abilities. “Our commander in chief is not in charge. The free world deserves better than a hesitant and diminished leader,” she must insist.
“At my age, some things become clearer than ever,” assured the 81-year-old Democrat, even joking: “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I’ve been here a long time ".
Joe Biden also announced to Congress that he had ordered the US military to establish an artificial port in Gaza to deliver more humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory; The completion of this work will not require “any ground deployment of American troops,” he assured. He also called on the Israeli government to “let more humanitarian aid into Gaza,” stressing that humanitarian aid “cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip.”
“I am working hard to achieve an immediate ceasefire of at least six weeks,” which would allow the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, he added.
Barely an hour before the president's speech, the war in Gaza had come to Washington: demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags gathered near the White House while others blocked an avenue leading to the Capitol. Joe Biden's convoy took a route that avoided groups of protesters.
