Constantly mocked and questioned about his advanced age, Joe Biden quickly set the tone for his State of the Union speech this Thursday, March 7, an annual ritual. In an energetic and committed performance, like a launching pad for his campaign, the American president increased the attacks on his Republican rival Donald Trump. The president, a candidate for re-election next November, also defended his economic record and strongly defended the right to abortion for a little over an hour before Congress.
Attack on Trump, “his grudge” and “his resentment”
He promised to embody “optimism” against the “rancor” of Donald Trump, “moral force” against the “hatred” fueled by the Republican: Thursday before Congress, Joe Biden attacked his rival with rare ferocity . During his State of the Union speech, lasting more than an hour, the 81-year-old Democrat mentioned his “predecessor” 13 times, whom he is almost guaranteed to face again in the November presidential election. .
Without ever naming him, he particularly accused the 77-year-old Republican of “submitting” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and of putting American democracy in “danger.” “My predecessor, a former Republican president, told Putin, ‘Do what you want.’ I quote him. A former president actually said that, submitting to a Russian leader. I think it’s outrageous. It’s is dangerous, and it is unacceptable!”, he said. Donald Trump, who increased his inflammatory statements during his campaign, denounced, on his Truth social network, an “angry, divisive and hateful speech”.
“At my age, certain things become clearer than ever,” he said, promising to defend “honesty, moral strength, dignity, equality.” “And now someone of my age is telling another story, that of an America turned towards resentment, vengeance and revenge,” said the president, whose speech was punctuated by ovations and the “Four more years! Four more years!” elected officials from his camp. Donald Trump, surrounded by legal proceedings, has promised several times to take “revenge”, he who has never acknowledged his defeat in 2020.
Strong defense of the right to abortion
US President Joe Biden launched a fiery defense of the right to abortion on Thursday evening during his major State of the Union speech, evoking the electoral “power” of women eight months before the presidential election in which he is candidate. “Clearly, those who boast of having canceled federal protection of the right to abortion have no idea of the power of women,” said Joe Biden.
“But they realized it when the freedom to dispose of one’s body was at stake at the polls, we won in 2022 and 2023, and we will win again in 2024,” added to the cheers of his camp this convinced Catholic who poses as a defender of the right to abortion, going against the grain of other of his co-religionists. Abortion is one of the major themes of the campaign for the presidential election in November. “Many of you in this room and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on the freedom to dispose of one’s body. My God. What other freedom would you take away?” he lambasted.
Israel warns
Joe Biden urged Israel not to use humanitarian aid as a “bargaining chip” in the Gaza Strip, starving after five months of fighting. “I am working hard to achieve an immediate ceasefire of at least six weeks,” declared Joe Biden, as the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement has just entered its 6th month .
In his speech, the American president also announced the construction of a temporary port in Gaza to transport more aid to the Palestinian territory where hopes of a rapid truce between Israel and Hamas are dwindling. The construction of a “temporary pier” will take several weeks and does not mean the deployment of American soldiers on the ground, American officials said, specifying that the Israelis had been informed.
A tax on billionaires
The 81-year-old president, a candidate for re-election, praised his record on the economy. The whole world “envy” the United States economy, he said. “I inherited an economy that was on the brink of collapse,” he said during the speech, referring to the Covid-19 pandemic which had brought the world’s largest economy to its knees. “Fifteen million jobs have been created in three years, it’s a record. And the unemployment rate is the lowest in 50 years.”
The Democrat also called for an increase in the corporate tax rate and said he would like to tax billionaires up to 25%. “It is time to increase the minimum corporate tax to at least 21%, so that all big companies finally start paying their share,” he said. Beaten in the polls by nearly three years of high inflation, the president continues to put forward his measures to restore purchasing power to Americans. Particularly for middle-class and less well-off households. He said he wanted to establish an annual tax credit to help Americans with housing costs and emphasized his efforts to reduce unfair pricing and hidden fees.
Do not “demonize migrants”
US President Joe Biden said Thursday that he “would not demonize” migrants as his Republican opponent Donald Trump did and called on Congress to pass a border control bill. “I will not demonize migrants by saying they are ‘poisoning the blood of our country,'” he said in his State of the Union address to Congress, referring to recent comments by Donald Trump. Trump. “We can argue about the border or we can resolve the problem,” he said.
A few hours before the State of the Union address, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives adopted a bill that provides for the arrest of any immigrant convicted of theft or burglary. This text was called the “Laken Riley Act”, after the name of a student killed in February by an illegal Venezuelan immigrant, according to the police, and who became for conservatives a symbol of crime attributed to migrants, for which they blame Joe Biden.