The State of the Union

from New York Times I'm Michael babbaro. this is the. [Music]. daily on Thursday night President Biden. used the final State of the Union. Address of his first term to make his. case for a second term and to prosecute. his case against Donald. Trump today my colleague White House. reporter Jim tankersley walks us through.

the biggest moments of the. speech it's Friday March. 8th so Jim good evening and thank you. for staying up with us for what I have. always thought of as the Super Bowl for. nerds in Washington the State of the. Union absolutely although the Super Bowl. starts about 3 hours earlier.

so it's in some ways a little easier. roughly around the same time right. roughly around the same time and has. commercials kind of fun commercials. which we didn't get here no no so it's. kind of impossible to separate this. state of the union from the moment in. which it's being delivered which is the. start of a general election campaign for. president that has started so much. faster than I think anyone had expected. in this case the speech comes just a day.

after Donald Trump's last rival drops. out of the race the Republican primary. is now over and the race for the White. House is officially Whitted down now to. Trump versus Biden and it's at this. moment that President Biden delivers. this state of the union so with all that. in mind what heading into this night gym. do we understand to be Biden's Mission. with this speech the timing makes this. speech extraordinary sort of his. historically I think we can.

overemphasize the importance of State of. the Union speeches sometimes but not. this one this is definitely one of the. most important speeches Joe Biden has. given as president if not the most. important thus far and it's important. because he's not winning this race the. polls do not show him beating Donald. Trump right now and it shows massive. headwinds facing his re-election. campaign voters do not approve of the. job he's doing as president they think.

he is too old and they do not buy what. he is selling on his policy record right. now so Biden comes into this speech. wanting to reset all of those these are. his goals he wants to tell some new. stories about policy about the economy. about abortion about foreign policy that. make him look a lot better he wants to. draw contrasts with Trump that make. Biden look more likable and more. preferable to Trump than voters had been.

thinking coming into the speech and. maybe most importantly he wants to. dispel or at least quiet these concerns. about his age by showing himself to be. sort of a vigorous Joe Biden who's up. for the job okay with all that in mind. walk us through the speech itself and. how Biden sought to navigate all of. these issues and challenges he faces. it's a really interesting. start go Joe.

Joe Mr Speaker the president of the. United. States he kicks off with a joke he hears. all the Applause and says good. evening if I were smart I'd go home. now and then from that moment of levity. he pivots quickly into a very serious. section when he lays out threats to. democracy and freedom abroad and at.

home Putin of Russia is on the March. invading Ukraine and sowing chaos. throughout Europe and Beyond he starts. with the war in Ukraine and with Russian. President Vladimir Putin and he talks. about him he Compares him basically to. Hitler on the march in Europe if anybody. in this room thinks Putin will stop at. Ukraine I assure you he will not and. casts America and the Biden presidency. at crucial to stopping this March and.

then he tosses in what will be a real. sign of what's to come which is his. first swipe at Donald Trump now my. predecessor a former Republican. president tells Putin quote do whatever. the hell you. want that's a quote he quotes him and. accuses him of bowing down to I think. it's out rageous it's dangerous and it's.

unacceptable from Russia Biden jumps to. the United States and he's continuing to. build sort of this case against Trump. history is. watching just like history watched three. years ago on January. 6th now he starts talking about the. January 6th riots at the capital many of. you are here on that darkest of days we. all saw with our own eyes.

the insurrectionists were not Patriots. they'd come to stop the peaceful. transfer of power to over Stern the will. of the people he calls it the greatest. threat to US democracy since the Civil. War this is the moment to speak the. truth and to bury the lies and he says. that Trump tried to bury the truth you. can't love your country only when you. win the subtext here is hard to mess. Biden is saying Trump is a threat to. democracy in Europe.

and to democracy in the United. States right and it becomes clear around. this moment that this is going to be a. state of the union that has a lot to do. with Donald Trump yeah Donald Trump is. like the unnamed main character in this. speech when you talk to Biden AIDS and. his allies they are all a little bit or. a lot mystified at what they see As. Americans sort of almost Amnesia about. Trump not just sort of the chaos.

of the years that Trump was president. but also the effects of his policies. they think people are sort of. remembering him overly nostalgically in. a way that Biden clearly sets out in. this speech to try to change and the. next way he does that after this riff. about democracy is by talking about. abortion and reproductive Freedom like. most Americans I believe R We R got it. right he talks about how roie Wade in. Biden's view was correctly decided but a. Supreme Court with justices appointed by.

Trump overturned it which he knows. Americans in the polling largely do not. like he's the reason was overturned and. he brags about it look at the chaos that. has resulted and then he talks about. that leading to further erosion of. reproductive freedoms including the. recent Alabama decision about IVF many. of you in this chamber and my. predecessor are promising to pass a. national ban on reproductive Freedom my. God what Freedom else would you take.

away and there there's this sort of. extraordinary moment where he turns to. the members of the Supreme Court who are. there at the speech it's not all of them. but it's several of them and tells them. with all due respect justices women are. not without electoral electoral. power excuse me electoral or political. power you're about to realize just how. much you about basically hey you're. underestimating women you're. underestimating what you have wrought.

with your decision striking down. row right and it's actually in this. moment of him speaking to the justices. that he becomes his most overtly kind of. campaign he actually says that in. 2024 women will show their power and and. in that moment I certainly felt like. this was going to be not just a state of. the union that was unusually focused on. his rival but that was unusually open in.

the way that it was about his. presidential campaign yes and then Biden. turns to the economy where he really has. sort of a big task but also he thinks a. big opportunity to try to change the way. Americans think about Biden and Biden's. record it doesn't make new but news in a. thousand cities and towns the American. people are writing the greatest comeback. story never told. he's sort of retelling the story of the.

country's recovery from the pandemic. recession and trying to cast himself. this time not as the villain who. Unleashed inflation that Americans are. angry about but as the hero who has. created a recovery that's the Envy of. the world America's comeback is building. the future of American possibilities. building an economy from the middle out. and the bottom up not to top down and he. starts telling the story running through. all the ways in which his.

helped the economy the racial wealth Gap. is as small as it's been in 20 years. wages keep going up inflation keeps. coming down inflation has dropped from. 9% to 3% the lowest in the world and. tending. lower and I got to tell you Michael I I. covered this stuff every day I know this. stuff really well Biden starts going so. fast and sort of so animatedly that it. was hard for me to keep up and now. instead of a porting importing foreign. products and exporting American jobs.

we're exporting American products and. creating American jobs and it takes him. a while to sort of settle down and kind. of relax into the speech but in these. economic Parts in particular he's just. at times just flying through well you. know I don't think that was an accident. and I think it speaks to one of the. things you said about what Biden's goal. was tonight which was to be energetic I. mean there were moments during the. speech I was listening in the same pair.

of headphones I'm listening to you in. where I had to lower the volume and kind. of take my headphones off because Biden. was almost yelling and it felt like that. was a deliberate effort by the president. to say I am so very present and here for. this speech yeah absolutely and the. times when he really seemed to relax. into it were the times when he kind of. broke character almost or broke from the. text and needled the Republicans in the.

crowd 46,000 new projects have announced. all across your communities and by the. way I noticed some of you strongly voted. against it or they're cheering on that. money coming in so this happens really. early on he's talking about investments. from his infastructure law that have. gone to communities all across the. country and which as Biden loves to note. include Investments that have been. celebrated by some Republican members of. Congress who didn't vote for the law if. any of you don't want that money in your. District just let me know.

throughout the speech though especially. once he settles down Biden talks about a. ton of economic policy and it's very. strategic what he chooses to talk about. and I want to make sure the college is. more. affordable let's continue increasing the. pel grants to working in Middle Class. families and increase record investments. in. HBCU he targets young voters who. Democrats are really worried about when. winning in large numbers in this.

election by talking about his efforts to. forgive student loan debt and by. proposing new ways to help people who. are buying homes often for the first. time because housing costs are a huge. worry among young voters I want to. provide an annual tax credit that will. give Americans $400 a month for the next. two years as mortgage rates come down to. put toward their mortgages when they buy. not all of his Economic Policy here is. aimed at young voters some of it is much. more Universal but even the universal. stuff has some real appeals to young.

people in a way that Joe Biden relates. to them most notably snack food you. probably all saw that commercial on. Snickers. bars you get you get charge the same. amount and you got about I don't know. 10% fewer Snickers in it he talks about. shrinking Snickers bars as an example of. corporate greed that's pushing up prices. of things what economists call shrink. flation same size bag put fewer chips in.

it no I'm not joking it's called Shing. and this is like a a way for him to move. from tangible concerns of young people. into another big economic narrative he's. trying to tell which is Joe Biden wants. to raise taxes on corporations and kind. of wants to stick it to Big corporations. that he thinks aren't paying their fair. share and Donald Trump again unnamed but. very much a main character is the guy. who cut corporate taxes and by is trying. to paint him as sympathetic to the.

interest of the wealthy and big. companies over the interests of working. people including young workers the. working people who built this country. pay more into Social Security than. Millionaires and billionaires do it's. not fair we have two ways to go. Republicans can cut Social Security and. give more tax breaks to the wealthy I. will that's the. proposal oh no Republicans by the way do. not take all of these Biden narrative.

reframings sitting down they get more. and more agitated and start to Heckle. him it it leads to this much more rockus. feeling of the speech as the speech goes. on and they really start to have some. back and forths with Biden from the. lecturn none as sort of stunning as what. happens when Biden starts talking about. immigration.

we'll be right. back so Jim tell us about the section of. the speech where Biden broaches. immigration well he is trying to. continue his effort to flip the script. on an issue that is unquestionably. difficult for him right now and he's. trying to do it by basically casting. himself as more serious about border. security legislation than Republicans. are and no remember my team began.

serious negotiation with a bipartisan. group of senators he calls out House. Republicans for not backing a bipartisan. bill from the Senate the result was a. bipartisan bill with the toughest set of. border security reforms we've ever. seen oh you don't think so Republicans. boo him oh you don't like that bill huh. and Biden goes right back at them he. basically says oh what you don't this. bill conservatives negotiated this bill.

mhm I'll be darn that's. amazing that. bipartisan and then he ticks through how. many more border security agents would. be hired and how many more immigration. judges and more Asylum officers so they. can resolve cases faster he talks about. how the Chamber of Commerce has endorsed. the bill on the border patrol Union and. Republicans are really starting to. Heckle him now I know you know how to. read and Biden says at this one point I.

know you know how to read like you can. read the bill you know what's in it you. guys negotiated it he says you're. blocking this because it would be good. for the country but bad for Trump and. hey we can fight about fixing the Border. or we can fix it I don't think it's. about me or about Trump I think it's. good for America send me the Border bill. now right and here Biden is applying in. what has been up to this point a very.

pointed critique of trump to the entire. Republican party as a source of kind of. blind partisan opposition to practical. Solutions and basically a source of. government dysfunction yeah and it's at. this moment Michael when the speech kind. of hops the track for a minute I'd be a. winner not real.

[Applause]. I Biden gets interrupted by margorie. Taylor green margorie Taylor green is a. famously conservative. bombastic prot Trump Republican member. of Congress from Georgia and before the. speech even starts when Biden is walking. into the house chamber she hands him a. button with the name on it of leak Riley. a young n ing student who was killed at.

the University of Georgia allegedly by. an undocumented immigrant right she. hands him this wearing a red Maga. reelect Trump hat and she says to him as. he's walking by say her name say her. name this has been the conservative call. say her name say her name Joe Biden is. denying they say violence committed by. undocumented immigrants mhm she starts. heckling him on this on this point when. he's in the immigration section of his.

speech and Biden indulges her how. exactly Biden stops his speech and has. almost like a presidential version of a. screw it moment he takes the pin that. marjerie Taylor green handed him he. looks at her and he says the name. although he gets it wrong Lincoln. Lincoln Riley Lincoln Riley and then. young woman who was killed by an illegal.

a young woman killed by an illegal which. is not a phrase that Democrats usually. use to talk about undocumented. immigrants and he says to her parents. that his heart goes out to them but then. he goes back into his talking points. about changing the dynamic of the border. to make things better and he turns it. right back on green and her colleagues I. would respectfully SE to suggest my. refriend my Republican friends owe it to. the American people get this bill done.

we need to act now and says you owe it. to the American people to get this bill. done mhm and it's this amazing moment. right what do you make of it it was. definitely Off Script but I think it was. strategic M Biden had success in last. year's speech baiting Republicans on. Social Security and I think he came into. this speech hoping for some more. successful exchanges where he could turn. conservative and relatively unpopular.

across the country House Republicans. into his foils and here he is trying to. do that he is strategically engaging. with margerie Taylor green on her terms. in order to try to make her the villain. in this new story he's telling you're in. the way you say you care about this but. you're in the way got it eventually. Biden turns to yet another hot button. issue of. very meaningful significance to him.

electorally and that is the war between. Israel and Hamas in Gaza this is. something I think many of us had been. watching for from the start of the. speech and Biden Waits and is deep in. the speech when he gets there but then. he drops into something we really had. not seen to this point in the evening. which was kind of slow soft. compassionate Joe Biden and he kind of. gets the room suddenly really quiet. I know the last 5 months have been.

gut-wrenching for so many people for the. Israeli people for the Palestinian. people you talks about knowing how. gut-wrenching the time since October 7th. has been for so many people for people. in Israel for the Palestinians for. Americans and then he gets to the 250. hostages who were taken by Hamas in that. attack I pledge to all the families that. we will not rest until we bring every. every one of your loved ones home we.

[Music]. also by starting with the hostages what. Biden does is have a genuinely large. bipartisan Outburst in the room but then. he has to Pivot Israel has the right to. go after Hamas and he pivots into his. support for Israel and then he pivots. into how horrible the human conditions. are in Gaza more than 30,000. Palestinians have been killed. most of whom are not Hamas and laments.

the deaths and promises more aid for the. families who are homeless and hungry and. without water the only real solution to. the situation is a two-state solution. over. time and then in the very end he pivots. back to sort of an admonition almost of. the Israeli government which has. rejected Biden's preferred end to this. entire thing which is a two-state. solution right and in all those pivots J.

it feels like you can see a president. and a candidate for president who is. visibly struggling to figure out how to. manage all the constituencies in this. conflict yeah the way I would put it is. that you see a president who does not. have a magic solution that could make. everyone happy and that also comports. with his values right and you see him. trying to be responsive to changing. facts in the conflict but not coming. anywhere close to changing as fast as.

many of his critics would want him to. finally Biden turns to the elephant in. the room arguably the trickiest subject. of all which is his age and physical and. mental Readiness to be a second term. president yeah listen if you cover the. White House even if you write mostly. about policy you've been lectured by. people in the White House about how the. media writes way too much about Biden's. age but at the same time the White House. is acutely aware. of how much of a problem Biden's age is.

for him in the polls and this speech. turns out in the end to be a direct. acknowledgement of that and an attempt. just like with so many other things to. change the narrative mhm I know it may. not look like it but I've been around a. while Biden takes the age issue head on. when you get to be my age certain things. become clearer than. ever I know the American story and then. he tries in sort of a Ronald reaganesque. fashion to sort of make his age into a.

good thing an experience thing my. lifetime has taught me to embrace. freedom and democracy a future based on. core values that defined America honesty. decency dignity. equality to respect everyone to give. everyone a fair chop to give hate no. safe. haror and here is where he tries to use. his age and his story to relate back to. the narratives he's trying to tell about.

policy and the country right now and he. ends by trying to contrast himself in. advancing age with Trump in advancing. age my fellow. Americans the issue facing our. nation isn't how old we are it's how old. are our ideas. hate anger Revenge retribution are the.

oldest of ideas but you can't lead. America with ancient ideas only take us. back this is like a total critique of. trump he is saying Trump is like a. cranky old man shouting that he wants. things to go back to a way that they. were and about all the people he's angry. at and that Biden is trying to be this. Optimist who wants to take us forward. and unite the country You're the Reason. we've never been more optimistic about. our future than I am now so let's build.

the future together let's remember who. we are we are the United States of. America and there is. nothing nothing beyond our capacity when. we act. together God bless you all and may God. protect our troops thank you thank you. thank. you in the end was this an effective. speech given all the burdens and. challenges that you outlined at the. beginning of our conversation did.

President Biden rise to the occasion and. Will It ultimately matter well we'll. have to see what the polls show but I. think two things are important here. right away one is that in the time from. when the speech ended until we started. taking this episode I heard from a bunch. of Democrats who had been skeptical. about the president's ability to deliver. a speech with this level of energy who. were thrilled with it and I think on. that he's done an important part of his. job which is to reassure some parts of. his Coalition right but also there was.

this rather extraordinary ad that a. group of trump supporters aired earlier. in the day that basically went straight. at Biden on his age it was a caricature. of a caricature of an old weak man. unable to get up the stairs let alone do. the job and implied that he wasn't going. to be able to finish out a second term. like live through it that is a low bar. to clear obviously for a guy giving a.

speech to a joint session of Congress. but that's clearly not the guy who. showed up at the State of the Union that. is not the guy giving the speech he. coughed he stumbled he had some Joe. bidenisms that happened but he was not. an old frail man who couldn't walk he. basically closed the place down he hung. around talking to members of Congress. long after most of the networks had. turned off their cameras and he loved it. he was having a good time and he was. trying really hard to show the world.

that hey like that caricature you saw me. is nothing like reality with all that. said it's almost impossible to reset. narratives and change the way people. view things in the span of one speech. right whether that's your performance in. the economy or your Fitness for. office and so now we're going to see in. the span of an actual campaign over the. next several months a campaign that. started in Earnest this week. whether Biden can do this again and. again and again whether he can have the.

repetition and the Repeat Performance. that he needs to convince voters that. hey these narratives you should rethink. them you should rethink me and you. should rethink my record and you should. give me another chance and reelect. [Music]. me well Jim thank you very much. appreciate it thank you. Michael. [Music].

here's what else you need to know today. lawmakers in Alabama have passed. legislation to protect providers of. invitro fertilization from a state. Supreme Court ruling that put many of. them at legal risk that ruling found. that Frozen embryos should be considered. children a finding that all but shut. down IVF across the state over fears.

that damaging or destroying an embryo. could become a crime the new legislation. which was quickly signed into law by. Alabama's Governor seeks to ensure that. no legal liability exists as a result at. least one major provider of IVF in the. state resumed treatments almost. [Music]. immediately. [Music].

today's episode was produced by mu zi. Alex Stern and Carlos PRI it was edited. by Lisa Chow contains original music by. Pat mccusker and Brad fiser and was. engineered by Alyssa Moxley our theme. music is by Jim brunberg and Ben. lansberg of. [Music]. wonderl.

[Music]. that's it for the daily I'm Michael. Babar see you on. [Music]. Monday.