President Joe Biden on Thursday is expected to use his last State of the Union address before the US election to sharpen distinctions with Donald Trump on the economy and try to ease voter concerns about his age and the Gaza war.
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Biden’s annual address, an event that stems from the US Constitution’s requirement that a president report to Congress “from time to time”, will be held Thursday evening at 9pm Washington time (0200 GMT on Friday) before a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate, with a televised audience.
It may be the Democratic president’s biggest stage to reach the millions of voters weighing whether to vote for him, choose Republican challenger Trump, or sit out the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Biden will seek to draw a contrast with Trump, his Republican challenger in the Nov 5 election, over abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade in 2022. Trump appointed three of the six conservative justices on the nine-member court.
“If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again,” Biden will say, according to excerpts released by the White House.
Biden will also focus on the threats to democracy he argues Trump poses as the former president repeats false claims about his 2020 election loss and proposes jailing political enemies.
“My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy. A future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality,” Biden will say. “Now some other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me.”
Trump says he plans to punish political foes and deport millions of migrants if he wins a second White House term.
Age, economy at issue
Opinion polls show Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, closely matched in the race. Most American voters are unenthusiastic about the rematch after Biden defeated Trump four years ago.
The president’s reference to “other people my age” is an attempt to underscore that the two men are both old. Biden, who has faced concerns about his mental acuity, was unlikely to mention Trump, who also makes regular gaffes and verbal slip-ups, by name.
The speech may be the Democratic president’s biggest stage to reach the millions of voters weighing whether to vote for him, choose Trump, or sit out the election. Nikki Haley, Trump’s last remaining rival for his party’s presidential nomination, dropped out on Wednesday.
Biden will seek to burnish his reputation with Americans about the strength of the U.S. economy and renew his quest to make wealthy Americans and corporations pay more in taxes, unveiling new proposals including higher minimum taxes for companies and Americans with wealth over $100 million.
Any such tax reform is unlikely to pass unless Democrats win strong majorities in both houses of Congress in the November vote, which is not forecast.
Biden also is set to push for new measures to lower housing costs, including a $10,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, and use his legislative successes on infrastructure and computer chips production to show what is possible if he is given another four years in office.
“I came to office determined to get us through one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history. And we have. It doesn’t make the news, but in thousands of cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told,” Biden will say of his economic record since 2021.
The US economy is performing better than most high-income countries, with continued job growth and consumer spending.
However, Republican voters tell pollsters they are deeply dissatisfied with the economy, and Americans overall give Trump better marks in polls for economic issues.
“Joe Biden is on the run from his record … to escape accountability for the horrific devastation he and his party have created,” Trump posted before the speech on his Truth Social platform.
Gaza port, ceasefire pins
Biden was expected to try to cool anger among many Democrats over his support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. He will announce during the speech that the US military will build a port on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian assistance by sea, US officials told reporters.
Some Democratic lawmakers were expected to wear ceasefire pins during the speech. A movement to end Israel’s Gaza offensive led to nearly a fifth of Minnesota Democratic voters selecting “uncommitted” rather than voting for Biden on Tuesday following a similar vote in Michigan’s Democratic primary last month.
If last year’s State of the Union is any guide, Republicans loyal to Trump who fought most of Biden’s legislative proposals for the past year could provide a raucous audience as well.
Biden was expected to use the speech to push, again, for a $95 billion aid package for weapons to Ukraine and aid to Israel that has been blocked by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The president’s wife’s guests for the speech include Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who was in Washington as Sweden formally joins NATO on Thursday, two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – indicating Biden will speak on his support for the security alliance, another contrast with Trump.
Other White House guests included people affected by in vitro fertilization or abortion restrictions, a veteran of the 1965 Bloody Sunday attack on Black marchers in Selma, Alabama, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain and others.
US Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, who will deliver Republicans’ formal response to Biden’s speech, planned to attack him over immigration and the economy.
“The true, unvarnished State of our Union begins and ends with this: Our families are hurting. Our country can do better,” she will say, according to excerpts. “President Biden’s border crisis is a disgrace. It’s despicable. And it’s almost entirely preventable.”
Trump has said he plans to respond live online during Biden’s remarks.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
This story originally appeared on France24
