On Tuesday, President Joe Biden will deliver his second State of the Union address. Biden reportedly began rehearsing his speech weeks ago, ordering his aides to use proper notation on the draft (No acronyms!)
Sure enough, Biden has offered hints about the points of his speech… and critics already know which lies to watch for.
“Next week, I’ll be reporting on the state of the Union,” Biden said Friday, possibly as a preview to the content of Tuesday’s speech. “But today, I’m happy to report that the state of the Union and the state of our economy is strong.”
“Jobs are up, wages are up, inflation is down, and COVID no longer controls our lives,” Biden told the Democratic National Committee that day. “But now, the extreme MAGA Republicans in the House of Representatives have made it clear they intend to put it all at risk. They intend to destroy it.”
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Here are five big lies to watch for during the speech — from inflation to infrastructure and more.
COVID-19
Biden has said, nearly three years on, that the virus “no longer controls our lives.”
However, his administration extended the state of emergency until May of this year. Meanwhile, he’s citing the state of emergency — the one repeatedly renewed by his administration — as grounds to cancel student debt.
In his speech, Biden may say it’s (finally) time to move beyond the pandemic… while still using the pandemic as an excuse to expand his executive power.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Given the GOP’s takeover in the House, Biden has shifted his focus from legislating to implementing the massive infrastructure and climate bills passed in the last Congress — and to trying to make sure Americans credit him for the improvements.
“These things don’t sell themselves,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday on NBC. “And it’s one of the reasons I’m really looking forward to that State of the Union address. I will say that there have been so many accomplishments under this administration. It can be difficult to list them in a distilled way.”
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However, the Biden presidency has seen one infrastructure fiasco after another. Months before the Southwest Airlines meltdown, the attorneys general of 38 states had briefed his administration about customer service issues with the airline.
INFLATION
The president will stand at the House rostrum at a time when 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.
Biden will aim to confront those sentiments head on, aides said, while at the same time trying to avoid sounding insensitive to Americans’ concerns.
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Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, said Biden would “acknowledge and meet American people where they are,” adding that their “economic anxiety is real.”
“I think the core message is: We have to make more progress, but people should feel optimism,” he added.
Prices have stabilized since last summer, but they still remain high. The long-arc story is that price growth has outstripped wage growth for the last two years, especially with respect to gas prices.
Still, Biden might try to declare victory over inflation, anyway.
“MAGA” REPUBLICANS
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday vowed to be “respectful” during the address and said he asked Biden to refrain from using the phrase “extreme MAGA Republicans,” which he deployed on the campaign trail in 2022.
“I won’t tear up the speech, I won’t play games,” he told reporters, a reference to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s dramatic action after former President Donald Trump’s final State of the Union address.
On the eve of the president’s address, McCarthy challenged Biden to come to the negotiating table with House Republicans to slash spending as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling.
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“Mr. President, it’s time to get to work,” McCarthy said in remarks from the speaker’s balcony at the Capitol.
Still, Biden will likely continue scaremongering about “MAGA Republicans” and their intent to “destroy” the nation… while refusing to make any compromise about out-of-control spending.
LYING BY OMISSION
Don’t expect Biden to mention the border crisis, of course. He’s ignored the issue for much of his presidency. He didn’t visit the site until last month’s trip to El Paso, Texas.
Plus, Biden is likely to avoid mentioning the scandal over classified documents, as past presidents have tended to avoid mention of whatever’s got them into trouble.
And don’t expect the investigation into his son, Hunter Biden, and his controversial financial dealings to get mentioned.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.