President Joe Biden delivered the 2023 State of the Union address on Tuesday night to a joint session of the Congress, which ended with some pretty unexpected moments in addition to the traditional speech by the President.
Biden, in his speech, touted his administration’s achievements and talked about a variety of subjects ranging from unemployment rates to inflation and “sunsetting” federal programs.
He commenced his speech by congratulating newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy who sat behind Biden along with Kamala Harris on the dais. “I start tonight by congratulating the members of the 118th Congress and the new Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy.”
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“Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working together,” he added.
Speaking about the unemployment rates under his administration, President Biden, recalling his father’s words, said that “a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, “Honey –it’s going to be OK,” and mean it.”
He further went on to point to the unemployment rate that has reached 3.4%, a 50-year low, and said that under the Biden administration, 800,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs have been created adding that it’s “the fastest growth in 40 years.”
Later in his speech, the President talked about inflation, saying that it has “been a global problem because of the pandemic that disrupted supply chains and Putin’s war that disrupted energy and food supplies. But we’re better positioned than any country on Earth. We have more to do, but here at home, inflation is coming down. Here at home, gas prices are down $1.50 a gallon since their peak.”
During his speech at one point, the President was heckled by several members of the GOP when he stated that “some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years. That means if Congress doesn’t vote to keep them, those programs will go away.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene even went on to call Biden a “liar”, adding, “You lie!”, while several others booed and said “no.”
Biden later went on to say that he wasn’t suggesting that “it’s a majority” of Republicans that support the idea, and added that his office could give a copy of the proposal to anyone doubting it.
Biden’s State of the Union address was also dismissed by several others including Sarah Huckabee Sanders and former president Donald Trump, who did a live stream commentary during the President’s speech and made remarks targeting his phrasing, and later went on to create his own speech which he dubbed the “real State of the Union” address.
In the video, the former president heavily criticised the Biden administration for its policies on immigration crisis and the provision of gender-affirming care for minors in the US.
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