RFK Jr. slams Biden’s State of the Union address as ‘hyper-partisan’
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized President Biden’s State of the Union address Friday, calling it a “hyper-partisan” stump speech that did little to spark unity in the nation.
“I mean, I thought the speech in general, I agree with some of the commentators that you’ve had, that it was hyper-partisan,” Kennedy told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
“This was more of a campaign stump speech that you’d give to a red meat crowd during the last two weeks of the campaign rather than that kind of statesman-like and presidential unifying speech that we want to see and that the nation expects under the world expect from the State of the Union address,” he continued, “You want something that inspires pride in our country and in our country and all around the globe.”
Kennedy joins a cadre of other politicians and pundits who have criticized the president for his address to Congress Thursday, with many calling it overly political.
During his address, Biden spoke about Ukraine’s war with Russia and pushed Congress to move aid for the embattled country. Kennedy slammed Biden’s framing of the war, as in his view, the war should have been settled by now.
“I disagree with the kind of comic book characterizations that President Biden has made, this is a war that should have been settled,” Kennedy said. “This was not about stopping [Russian President Vladimir Putin] from rampaging across Europe.”
“It is a war about the ascension of NATO into Ukraine, which we should not be doing,” he added. “Our greatest diplomats have condemned that it was a mistake.”
Kennedy seemed pleased that the president brought up the housing crisis during his address speech. Though, the independent candidate did not agree with Biden’s proposed solution.
“One issue that he has not mentioned before that I was very happy about, which is the housing crisis in this country. The fact that young people can’t get into our home,” he said. “His solution however, I think was, I would say, a cynical solution, which is a $10,000 gift over the next two years.”
Including a few unscripted moments, Biden’s speech before Congress was his chance for him to address growing concerns around his age and mental acuity — as well as tout his first-term accomplishments and create more distance between himself and his likely November challenger, former President Trump.
While many argued the speech was “overly partisan,” there were some memorable moments Thursday night that included bipartisan approval.
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