President Joe Biden will use tonight’s State of the Union address to try and overcome pessimism in the country and concerns about his own leadership.
His speech before a politically divided Congress comes as the nation struggles to make sense of confounding cross-currents at home and abroad — economic uncertainty, a wearying war in Ukraine, growing tensions with China among them — and warily sizes up Biden’s fitness for a likely reelection bid.
Sponsored: Biden to Replace US Dollar?
Barely a quarter of U.S. adults say things in the country are headed in the right direction, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About three-quarters say things are on the wrong track. And a majority of Democrats don’t want Biden to seek another term.
In preparation, Biden’s official Twitter account posted a picture of the first page of his speech —
Getting ready. pic.twitter.com/UhERyDuxTO
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 6, 2023
It didn’t go well.
Critics flooded the post with wise cracks and doubts about Biden’s leadership. Take a look —
Was this speech delivered to you from the balloon?
— Brandon Straka (@BrandonStraka) February 6, 2023
Of course you're using a folio made in China.
— Raheem J. Kassam (@RaheemKassam) February 6, 2023
Sponsored: 5-Year Down Market Coming … Click here for the name of the one ticker you need to protect yourself!
And so are half the men apparently.
— RobUsakowski (@RobUsakowski) February 6, 2023
$100 he reads the [P A U S E]
— ♥️ Joy Reborn ♥️ (@RedRising11) February 6, 2023
Deadly Sex Mistake Could be KILLING Seniors [sponsored]
"Adding certainty to the oil economy is my administrations top priority.
Them decades of nuclear power plant construction to replace gross polluter coal for electricity &
we'll fix healthcare spending so that Social Security recipients won't pay a dime for medical expenses!"
— Randell Hynes (@HynesForNevada) February 7, 2023
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Monday vowed to be “respectful” during the address and in turn asked Biden to refrain from using the phrase “extreme MAGA Republicans,” which the president deployed on the campaign trail in 2022.
McCarthy called on Biden to embrace the Republican effort to put the nation’s finances on a path toward a balanced budget, which would require deep and politically unpopular reductions in federal spending that Biden and Democrats have vehemently resisted.
“We must move towards a balanced budget and insist on genuine accountability for every dollar we spend,” McCarthy said.
Cholesterol drug linked to memory loss [sponsored]
He insisted cuts to Medicare and Social Security, the popular health and retirement programs primarily for older Americans, were “off the table” in any budget negotiation. The GOP leader also said “defaulting on our debt is not an option.”
The White House has insisted Republicans cannot be trusted to protect the programs and blasted Republicans for “threatening to actively throw our economy into a tailspin with a default” by putting conditions on the debt limit.
The Associated Press contributed to this article