Biden to swipe at Trump in State of the Union
President Biden will take a thinly veiled swipe at former President Trump in his State of the Union address Thursday, according to excerpts shared by the White House ahead of the 9 p.m. EST speech.
“My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy. A future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor,” Biden will say, according to excerpts.
“Now some other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me,” Biden plans to say.
While it doesn’t refer to Trump by name, the comments are an implicit criticism of the former president, who is on track to be the Republican nominee and face Biden in November’s general election. Biden is 81, while Trump is 77.
The White House also previewed that Biden will ding Trump over the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to end Roe v. Wade, which the former president has repeatedly taken credit for because of his appointment of three conservative justices.
“Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America,” Biden will say, according to excerpts. “But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and won in 2022, 2023, and they will find out again in 2024.”
Biden said he would sign a bill to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land, though such legislation faces almost no chance of passing a divided Congress.
Biden is expected to highlight his accomplishments from the past three years in Thursday night’s speech, including various bipartisan accomplishments on infrastructure and investments in the economy.
He is also expected to draw a sharp contrast between his own vision for a second term and that of Trump, who has frequently described the U.S. as a “third world country” that is “going to hell” under Biden’s leadership, citing inflation, conflicts abroad and a surge in migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I came to office determined to get us through one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history. And we have. It doesn’t make the news, but in thousands of cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told,” Biden will say, according to excerpts. “So let’s tell that story here and now. America’s comeback is building a future of American possibilities, building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up – not the top down, investing in all of America – in all Americans – to make sure everyone has a fair shot and we leave no one behind.”
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