For Democrats, Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday night was proof the 81-year-old president is alive, well and able to deliver an energetic 70-minute speech to a joint session of Congress. But to some Republicans who’ve called him everything shy of a walking corpse, Biden’s election-year address to the nation was too vigorous.
“THIS IS LIKE A SHOUTING MATCH, EVERY LINE IS BEING SHOUTED,” former President Donald Trump roared on Truth Social during Biden’s speech — which, save for one glaring exception, were on-message and relatively blunder-free.
“Wow! They over medicated him! Angry, confused, and yelling,” tweeted Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), reflecting the right-wing spin on Biden’s remarks. (Jackson, the White House physician for Trump, might know something about overmedicating, according to allegations from White House staff.)
Disgraced former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who was booted from the House in a historic vote over alleged ethics violations but is apparently now planning a comeback — called Biden “a weak, frail president” who delivered “spin and lies to the American people from inside the chambers.”
The president was, indeed, letting it rip Thursday night. He was loud. He yelled a bit. He shot back at his hecklers, including a boisterous Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Republicans who booed him when he talked about immigration and taxes. He was also in his element after the speech, gabbing with lawmakers, taking selfies and even promising to call a representative’s mom. The general consensus from much of the chattering class was that Biden exceeded expectations, even if a solid State of the Union address doesn’t produce much of an electoral bump.
Biden managed to touch on his age toward the end of his remarks in a somewhat self-deprecating way.
“Let me close with this,” the president said. “I know I may not look like it, but I’ve been around awhile, and when you get to my age, certain things…
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