President Joe Biden delivered the State of the Union address Thursday night and used the opportunity to attack former President Donald Trump, who responded in real time on his social media platform Truth Social.
Biden was late to the event, eliciting an immediate response from Trump.
“They will need Mario Andretti at the wheel of the limo,” Trump quipped, according to live reporting by Fox News.
Anti-Israel protesters reportedly delayed Biden’s motorcade by protesting along his route to the Capitol ahead of the address.
Biden avoided saying Trump’s name throughout his address, referring to the former president as “my predecessor” throughout his hour-long speech. He cast himself as the most capable candidate to tackle the issues that matter to voters, including border security, inflation, and prescription drug prices.
A key moment in the president’s speech came when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) interrupted Biden, prompting him to say Laken Riley’s name, albeit possibly in error, saying “Lincoln Riley.”
Riley was a young woman who was allegedly murdered in Georgia by an unlawful migrant from Venezuela last month. The suspect had reportedly been repeatedly detained for suspected criminal activity but was released back into the community, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
In discussing unlawful migration, Biden cast blame on congressional Republicans for allegedly obstructing the passage of a border security bill that would allow millions of unlawful migrants to enter the United States before triggering a border shutdown. Still, he said he was “ready to fix the border.”
During the address, Biden also harped on the importance of continuing to fund Ukraine’s war effort with American taxpayer dollars, claimed that significant gains have been made in reducing inflation, condemned the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, argued for universal gun background checks, called the events of January 6, 2021, an “insurrection,” and suggested that Republican-proposed tax cuts would only benefit the already-wealthy.
“I see a future where we defend democracy, not diminish it. I see a future where we restore the right to choose and protect other freedoms, not take them away. I see a future where the middle class finally has a fair shot and the wealthy finally have to pay their fair share in taxes. I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence. Above all, I see a future for all Americans! I see a country for all Americans! And I will always be a president for all Americans!” he said.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) was tapped to deliver the Republican response to the president’s speech.
“What we saw was the performance of a permanent politician who has actually been in office longer than I have been alive,” Britt said. “Right now, the American dream has turned into a nightmare for so many families. The true, unvarnished state of our union begins and ends with this — our families are hurting. Our country can do better.”
Trump also weighed in forcefully, claiming on Truth Social, “This was an angry, polarizing, and hate-filled Speech. He barely mentioned Immigration, or the Worst Border in the History of the World. He will never fix Immigration, nor does he want to. He wants our Country to be flooded with Migrants. Crime will raise to levels never seen before, and it is happening very quickly!”
The State of the Union address was billed as the first volley in the upcoming contest that will see Biden and Trump face off again following former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s announcement after her shellacking on Super Tuesday that she would be suspending her presidential campaign, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Correction: This article was updated at 3:25 p.m. on March 8, 2024, to correct the assertion that Laken Riley’s mother was present at the State of the Union address.