A Moment for the Biden Fire: State of the Union after Joe Biden’s 2023 Distinguished Address to the House of Representatives

Enough already: It is time to unleash Dark Brandon on this soul-sucking downer of a presidential race. The State of the Union is where the most obvious place to begin is to invite him.

Donald Trump effectively locked up the Republican presidential nomination just two days after President Joe Biden was scheduled to give his annual address to Congress, signaling the unofficial start of the general election. This is a big moment for Mr. Biden. A majority of America does not want him to be commander in chief for a second term because he is old and frail, and his team has preferred not to worry about them. Not in a good way. His State of the Union performance — and make no mistake, in an election year, this speech is high-level campaign theater — is the perfect opportunity to show rather than tell Americans that he still has the fire in the belly. The president needs to start throwing punches after he steps behind the lectern.

“It is one thing to sort of say, ‘I am the person who is fighting for you’ — but if you appear as though you don’t have a lot of fight in you, that’s not particularly compelling to people who want that,” Peri said.

“This is sacrilegious for a speechwriter to say but, it’s actually not in the words he says but in the way he presents those words,” said Sarada Peri, who was a speechwriter for former President Barack Obama.

In February of 2023, President Biden hadn’t yet launched his campaign for reelection. He had stated that he would run for a second term, but many in his own party were not sure if he was actually up for it.

Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to be phased out, according to Biden. Biden kept the back and forth going, negotiating in real time. There was a moment during which Biden’s critics were quieted and his supporters soothed.

After that spontaneous moment in last year’s speech, questions about Biden’s political plans quieted down and the Democratic establishment quickly fell in line behind the incumbent president.

“I think it was a good sign that the president is still able to read a script despite his use of a pano-phrastical language,” said Shakir, who was the campaign manager for the 2020 presidential candidacy of the Vermont senator. “He’s got his wits, he’s got his humor, he’s got his fight.”

He said the speech worked on two levels: Biden was standing up for popular programs, and taking the fight directly to his Republican antagonists in Congress.

The Last State of the Union: An Update on Biden’s Status in the House of Representatives and White House Explicit Response to his Report to the Special Counsel

Poll after poll show voters still wonder whether Biden is too old for the job. Then last month, a special counsel report about Biden’s handling of classified documents damningly described him as a “sympathethic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

The White House was attempting to push back against the assessment, and once again cited that moment in the House chamber. “I mean, we saw it at the last State of the Union,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. “You know, he was able to negotiate while giving a very important speech.”

And he’ll draw contrasts with Republicans on economic policy, protecting democracy and reproductive rights — a day after former President Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee in the race.

There will be updates on the war in Gaza, an effort to harangue House Republicans into voting for Ukraine aid, and talk about finishing the job on a long list of domestic priorities.