State of the Union 2022 - Boebert doubles down on heckle as veteran’s widow calls for her removal
As it happened: Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to Congress
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Your support makes all the difference.Joe Biden has woken up an encouraging reception for his first State of the Union address, which snap polling says met with the approval of more than two-thirds of Americans – a rare bit of good news for a president whose ratings remain underwater.
Mr Biden at times received bipartisan standing applause in the House chamber last night, especially during his remarks on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Putin’s war was premeditated and unprovoked,” the president said. “He rejected efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and Nato wouldn’t respond. And, he thought he could divide us here at home. Putin was wrong. We were ready.”
However, progressives have given a lukewarm reception to the domestic elements of Mr Biden’s speech, in which he promised to “fund the police” while declining to go as far as some wanted on key issues like immigration.
Speaking on MSNBC, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that “there’s some themes that are left a little bit to be desired for key constituencies in the Democratic base, but the president’s goal was very clear on really projecting a theme of unity and I think he’s still stuck to that.”
Meanwhile, the White House has hit back at heckling from far-right Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki remarking that their shouting at the president “says a lot more about them” than it does about the substance of his speech.
From the Independent: Biden at his best?
Andrew Buncombe has a positive write-up of Joe Biden’s performance last night, reflecting that Democrats were “very worried indeed” about their president’s first State of the Union address – worried that he’d fluff his lines, or be beset by hecklers, or let his domestic agenda sidelined by Ukraine. In the end, he writes, “all three came true. And yet the president was probably not harmed by any of it”.
Read his analysis below.
We saw Biden at his human best – including how he responded to very inhuman heckling
Joe Biden may not have surprised many viewers, writes Andrew Buncombe, but he was probably the best version of himself
Biden insists on funding police
The mission to “defund the police” has become almost an orthodoxy among progressive Democrats, but centrists have long complained that it hurt them at the polls in 2020, when the party failed to win the Congressional mandate it expected.
Joe Biden last night made clear where he stands on the issue, winning applause even from Republicans as he said “the answer’s not to defund the police, it’s to fund the police”.
Among those standing up to applaud: Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Manchin.
Voices: The shame of Boebert and Greene
The Independent’s Holly Baxter has one important takeaway from the State of the Union: that it showed up the most aggressively pro-Trump members of the audience for exactly who they are. Among them were hecklers Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, both of whom embarrassed their party with their behaviour...
Considering the gravity of the situation in Ukraine, Boebert and Greene’s coordinated yells seemed particularly juvenile. Their decision to turn their backs on Biden’s cabinet as they walked in at the beginning didn’t chime well with the surprising amount of Republicans who stood and applauded as the president wrapped up his speech at the end.
In this context, the Trumpists in the room looked anachronistic, their behavior downright embarrassing. Even self-identifying right-wingers on social media seemed confused and loath to criticize the speech: “WT?? He cares about our border, fund the police, veterans, pharmacy prices?? Is that Trump behind all that makeup??” tweeted one.
Read her take below.
MTG and Lauren Boebert were your cringey, xenophobic grandpa at Biden’s SOTU
The Trumpists did everything they could to interrupt at only the most inappropriate moments
Read Biden’s State of the Union address
If you missed Joe Biden’s speech last night and don’t have time to watch it through – or just want to focus on the content rather than the performance – you can read the full text here.
Who was last night’s designated survivor?
It’s tradition for the president to leave one member of their cabinet behind when they give the State of the Union address, since almost everyone formally in line to the presidency is gathered in the same building.
The “designated survivor” chosen to assume the top job if everyone in the Capitol were somehow wiped out was Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a former Rhode Island governor who was confirmed to her job on a bipartisan basis last year. Fortunately, her services will not be needed in the Oval Office.
Read more about her below.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is designated survivor for State of the Union
Who is the designated survivor for State of Union 2022?
Biden’s granddaughter defends him from Twitter critics
Presidential granddaughter Naomi Biden came out in praise of grandfather’s speech last night, dismissing David Axelrod’s criticism of it with a pithy verdict of her own:
Jen Psaki dismisses right-wing SOTU hecklers
Speaking on MSNBC, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki brushed off the heckling Joe Biden received from far-right Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.
“That was the moment in the speech where the president was talking about his unity agenda, and talking about priorities that we should all be able to agree on.... And they were heckling around that time and that moment. I think that says a lot more about them than it does about how important these priorities are, and how much the vast majority of people who are sitting there watching in that chamber last night could work together to solve exactly those problems. And others too, probably.”
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
White House responds to Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene heckling Biden
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has responded to Republican House lawmakers Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene heckling President Joe Biden during his State of the Union speech.
How Republicans handled Biden’s “fund the police” comments...
As the GOP still insists Joe Biden wants the police stripped of funding despite his saying the exact opposite last night, journalism professor and MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson makes this point:
Who was Beau Biden?
Joe Biden often refers to his deceased son Beau, who died of brain cancer five years ago at the age of 46. Last night, he described how his son’s illness may have been caused by “burn pits” he lived near while serving in combat – at which point the president was heckled by far-right Congresswoman Lauren Boebert.
Read more on who Beau Biden was below.
Beau Biden: The story of Joe Biden’s late son
What happened to Beau Biden? Joe Biden’s son died after brain cancer diagnosis
Reactions to Boebert and Greene’s heckling coming in...
Less extreme Republicans are joining Democrats to condemn Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert for heckling Joe Biden last night, including while he spoke about his deceased son. Here are a few recent interventions...
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