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“President Joe Biden took on Donald Trump in a fiery speech to Congress on Thursday, accusing his election rival of threatening U.S. democracy and kowtowing to Russia, as he laid out his case for four more years in the White House.” Reuters
The right criticizes the speech, arguing that Biden was divisive and failed to offer solutions to America’s problems.
“[Biden’s] address was one long, divisive pep rally for Democrats, goading Republicans throughout the speech, and targeting multiple and various villains for partisan attacks. It really was extraordinary. Most such speeches make at least an attempt at reaching across the aisle, if only as a gesture. This one had none, not even on the issue of aid to Ukraine where he most needs Republican support…
“His political enemies list was long, and far more than Mr. Trump. There were the 1,000 billionaires who don’t pay enough taxes, the drug companies that care nothing for patients, the credit-card companies that want to gouge consumers, the ‘big landlords who break antitrust laws by price-fixing’ and drive up rents, and more. He even hauled out the carcass of the National Rifle Association for a drubbing…
“There was nothing here for Nikki Haley voters, or Republicans who don’t want a second Trump term and might consider voting for Mr. Biden. In its divisiveness, it could have the effect of encouraging the No Labels movement to go ahead with a third-party candidacy. Every bit as much as Donald Trump, the Joe Biden in the well of the House on Thursday promised four more years of dispiriting rancor.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“Interest rates have caused the average monthly mortgage payment to almost double under Biden’s tenure, making houses unaffordable for most people. Biden’s answer? He’s going to eliminate closing costs and give home buyers a $800 tax credit… Thanks to inflation, each of us is now spending more income on groceries than at any time in more than 30 years. Biden’s solution? He’s going to force Mars not to shrink the size of your chocolate bar. This means companies will raise the price of food even higher.”
Editorial Board, Washington Examiner
“Crime wasn’t mentioned until [well into the speech], and even then it was blamed on Covid. The economy and inflation didn’t come up until after, and in both cases the president thundered that everything is actually great (or getting there shortly). ‘The triumphalism about where the economy is today,’ former Obama adviser David Axelrod noticed, ‘is probably not matching their mood.’ It wasn’t until after 10 p.m., when viewership numbers would have declined, that the president made it to immigration…
“But if not falling asleep is the measure of success, the president carried the night. ‘The bubble is extraordinary,’ Senator Bernie Sanders reportedly griped last fall. ‘Democrats seem to think — many of them — that, only if we can explain all that we have accomplished, people will come on board. But that ignores the pain ordinary people are now experiencing.’ On that front, the White House has a long way to go down a road it refuses to take.”
Christopher Bedford, Spectator World
The left praises the speech, arguing that Biden was vigorous and offered effective solutions to America’s problems.
The left praises the speech, arguing that Biden was vigorous and offered effective solutions to America’s problems.
“With Donald Trump effectively nailing down the GOP presidential nomination, this was a moment in which Biden needed to come out swinging, loudly standing up for democracy and drawing a clear line between the two parties and the things they value. He did that, giving a full-throated defense of democracy and directly calling out Republicans for their embrace of a candidate who denied the result of the last election, fomented an insurrection and bragged about getting Roe v. Wade overturned…
“His speech was aggressively political, but hopeful. He stood as a happy political warrior; he joked about his age. And he contrasted himself and his optimism with the darkness of Trump, whom he accurately said tells an ‘American story of resentment, revenge and retribution.’ Biden spoke with an inclusive voice: ‘I see a future for all Americans, I see a country of all Americans, and I will always be president for all Americans.’”
Rex Huppke, USA Today
“The president outlined an agenda for improving the middle class’s finances through a combination of tax credits, social benefits, crackdowns on corporate price gouging, and housing policies… [He] implored Congress to revive the bulk of his Build Back Better agenda for social welfare, including public subsidies for child care, a paid leave benefit, and expansion of at-home care for the elderly…
“Democrats want to raise taxes on America’s highest earners and corporations and use that revenue to increase the post-tax incomes of middle-class and working-class households. Republicans, by contrast, want not only to extend the Trump tax cuts’ benefits for the rich, but slash top tax rates even further…
“These policy details served as the foundation for a blunt, overarching narrative: Republicans are looking out for the rich, while Democrats are looking out for you.”
Eric Levitz, Vox
“Republican members of Congress repeatedly heckled Biden, who was happy to mix it up with them… ‘You’re saying no. Look at the facts,’ Biden smirked. ‘I know you know how to read.’ Biden also engineered a predictable but successful trap by praising a bipartisan border-security bill that Republicans killed at Donald Trump’s behest. When Republicans booed, Biden broke out into a broad, Cheshire-cat smile. ‘Oh, you don’t like that bill?’ he said. ‘I’ll be darned.’…
“The exchanges were a gift to Biden, whose aides had hinted he wanted to talk back to hecklers, just as he did last year. They see these moments as opportunities for Biden to prove he’s fast on his feet and not the senile shell whom some of his critics say he is. For the second year in a row, Republicans set a very low bar for Biden’s speech, and once again, he cleared it without much trouble.”
David A. Graham, The Atlantic
