The labyrinthine corridors of the Capitol were busier than usual on Thursday night, with the atmosphere of great occasions. Congressmen, senators, members of the presidential cabinet, judges of the Supreme Court, special guests – among them the prime minister of Sweden, which had just entered NATO – and a hundred journalists went to the House of Representatives to witness the most anticipated political speech of the year.
Fulfilling his constitutional obligation, President Joe Biden prepared to deliver his third – and perhaps last – State of the Union address. He slowly entered the chamber amid bipartisan applause, greeted those present and began a long and energetic speech, lasting one hour and ten minutes, in which he took stock of the achievements of his mandate. It was the opening shot of the intense eight-month race to the White House, two days after Super Tuesday, which confirmed who will be his opponent in November: Donald Trump, who is looking for revenge after his defeat – never admitted – in 2020.
With a confrontational tone, with which he sought to give an image of vitality in the wake of criticism for his old age, he drew a speech of contrasts between Trump’s “hate” and his “honesty”, between the “anger ” and his “decency”, between his autarkic “predecessor”, whom he did not name once, and him, who he says has made the US economy “the envy of the world”.
The Nov. 5 election will be held in the shadow of the storming of the Capitol, when the tycoon encouraged his supporters to prevent Biden’s certification. “History is watching us, as it watched us three years ago,” he said at the beginning of his speech: “The insurgents stormed this Capitol and put a dagger to the neck of the democracy of the United States.”
The final stretch of his presidency is marked by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. And they also marked a large part of his speech yesterday. “If anyone in this room thinks that Putin is going to stop in Ukraine, I assure them that he will not,” he said, raising his voice to demand that Republican congressmen lift their blockade of aid to Kyiv.
There was no lack of references to the border, at the center of the campaign after the Republicans blocked the migration pact agreed in the Senate, one of the most restrictive in history. “I have been told that my predecessor called on congressional Republicans and demanded that they block the law. He thinks it would be a political victory for me and a defeat for him. It’s not about him or me: it would be a victory for America.”
The two candidates describe the migration situation as a “crisis”, and this is how they staged it in their trip to the border last week. “Join me! We can solve it together”, he said, extending his hand, although he put his vision before Trump’s xenophobic speech: “I will not demonize immigrants saying that they ‘poison the blood of our country’. I will not separate families. I will not ban people from entering the US because of their faith.”
The speech, which he had been working on with his advisers since December, also included an announcement: the US would build a temporary port in Gaza to bring humanitarian aid to an increasingly besieged population. Pressured by the progressive wing of his party, he sent a message to the Netanyahu government: “To the leaders of Israel I say the following: humanitarian aid cannot be a currency”.
In the game of contrasts that Biden drew, and in his emphasis on the “freedom” that constitutes the country, he highlighted the situation of the right to abortion, which the Supreme Court deprotected at the federal level in June 2022. Since d ‘then it’s in the hands of the states, forcing many women to do it underground in places like Florida, Alabama or Texas, or have to pay for transportation to another state where it’s legal. Six of the nine members of the highest court – three of whom were appointed by Trump – were present in the front row and maintained a serious expression throughout the speech. Also invited was Kate Cox, a woman who was denied an emergency abortion by the Texas Supreme Court.
The White House guest list of twenty sent a message about the president’s priorities. In attendance were the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, who sat next to the First Lady, Jill Biden; Keenan Jones, a teacher who has had his student debt forgiven thanks to the Government’s massive forgiveness program, and Jazmin Cazares, the sister of a victim of the Uvalde shooting. The first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, had also been invited, but did not attend due to scheduling reasons.
Thursday night’s speech was a litmus test for Biden, who has started the election year as the most unpopular president since Harry Truman. He surpassed her by far, with an eloquent speech and no slips. But it is not clear that it should give him the boost he needs to be re-elected: he has an approval rating of 37.9%, and continues to be behind Trump in the polls in five of the six key states of this election.
