Source: Pool / Getty
The pomp and circumstance of American politics was on full display last night at the 2024 State of the Union address and “sleepy Joe” was wide awake well past his bedtime.
President Biden stood front and center and delivered a speech that was met with effusive praise and rousing approval from those on the left wing of the political spectrum. From the jump, Biden opened his speech with talk of the Civil War, World War II and quotes from Ronald Reagan in what was most likely an attempt to perk the ears of conservative voters.
From that point on, the President wasn’t just cogent, he was charismatic and at times he was confrontational. He directly addressed the Supreme Court and their decision to attack women’s reproductive rights with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Biden also mentioned his MAGA “predecessor” several times but specifically when talking about foreign policy in Ukraine and Russia. In so many words, he called Donald Trump a brown-nosing bootlicker who would sacrifice America to get Vladimir Putin to like him.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a modern day SOTU address without some self-important shenanigans from the Republican party. Georgia’s wacky state representative Marjorie Taylor Greene made a spectacle of herself when shouting for the President to say the name “Laken Riley” as a stunt to emphasize the right-wing agenda of border security.
Riley was a student at Augusta University when she was kidnapped and killed by a man who was an illegal immigrant. It was an ironic and hypocritical move considering that whenever there is a mass shooting, Republicans are the first to blame Democrats for “standing on the graves of children” to score political points regarding gun control.
Source: Tom Williams / Getty
When all was said and done, Biden subverted the expectations of many who were concerned about whether or not he could bring the heat without glitching like Mitch McConnell. Senator Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Senator and pastor of Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, gave the POTUS what is likely the highest praise he can offer during a moment after the speech…
We’d be remiss if we didn’t give Republicans the attention they deserve for being weird and obtuse. Alabama Senator Katie Britt’s was charged with the task of rebutting Biden’s address from the conservative perspective. It was one of the weirdest things we’ve ever seen. Britt’s cadence, vacillating facial expressions, and general tone was one of a serial killer mixed with an antebellum southern housewife. It was low-key terrifying and Saturday Night Live is going to have a field day mocking her this weekend.
The year 2024…what a time to be alive.
