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Democrat President Joe Biden is set to give his second State of the Union address as Commander in Chief of the United States on Tuesday evening before a joint session of Congress.
The speech, set to begin at 9 p.m. ET, is Biden’s third address to a joint session of Congress, having given a first one in 2021, then his first State of the Union address in 2022. Now, he gives his second such address–an annual tradition for presidents speaking in the U.S. House chamber before Senators, House members, members of the Cabinet, and members of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Biden’s address comes at a particularly fraught time for his presidency, just days after a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spy balloon floated across the continental United States before the president ordered it shot down when it had moved off the South Carolina coast in the Atlantic Ocean. It also comes as Biden faces a special counsel investigation over his mishandling of classified documents from his time as Vice President during former President Barack Obama’s administration and from his time as a U.S. Senator.
Biden’s speech also comes as economic numbers have shown some signs of improving at a macro level, but public polling indicates the average American does not feel as though their situation economically is improving at an individual level. How Biden addresses this divide will be critical in his speech.
It’s also Biden’s first joint address in a divided government, after Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections. Newly-elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, will introduce Biden to the chamber and sit beside Vice President Kamala Harris behind the president as he speaks, a sign to the nation that the U.S. federal government is divided.
Some Republicans, like Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), are planning to boycott the speech and not attend, whereas others may pull a variety of stunts to make fun of Biden. How that plays out in this chamber will also be interesting.
After Biden speaks, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican who previously served as White House Press Secretary under then-President Donald Trump, will give the formal GOP response to the address. Trump himself also is expected to release his own response video, and reactions are likely to pour in from both sides of the aisle and across the media.
Follow along here as Breitbart News brings you the latest developments throughout the evening in the lead-up to, during, and after Biden’s second State of the Union address.
UPDATE 9:45 p.m. ET:
Biden sparks outrage from Republicans in the chamber when he suggests that Republicans may want to cut Social Security or Medicare in debt ceiling fight. This is a blatant lie by Biden during the speech as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has already ruled out cutting those programs. Moments later Biden suggests getting “together” and negotiating how to cut the deficit and all the Republicans rose to applaud including McCarthy.
UPDATE 9:39 p.m. ET:
Biden seems to be leaning into a mixture of nationalist economics, and left-wing populism, bashing billionaires and big companies–while also insisting “I am a capitalist”–by saying that the tax code is “not fair.” At the same time, he is pushing major investments in green energy infrastructure and electric vehicles. He is also pushing a “Billionaire Minimum Tax.”
“No billionaire should be paying a lesser tax rate than a firefighter or schoolteacher,” Biden said… “Have you noticed Big Oil just reported its profits?”
UPDATE 9:28 p.m. ET:
Breitbart News economics editor John Carney rips Biden’s claims of rising take-home pay to shreds here in this must-read fact check.
UPDATE 9:26 p.m. ET:
His claims of economic success more broadly, too, are also not faring well under scrutiny:
Biden claimed “more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years.” We rated a similar claim Half True. #StateOfTheUnionAddress
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 8, 2023
UPDATE 9:25 p.m. ET:
Biden is getting reamed by fact checkers for claiming wages are rising during his presidency:
Biden said “take home pay has gone up.” That’s Half True.
Wages have outpaced inflation for the past two quarters. However, that increase is only beginning to compensate for the wages that were eaten away by inflation earlier in Biden’s presidency. #SOTU
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 8, 2023
UPDATE 9:18 p.m. ET:
Biden screwed up Schumer’s title when he introduced him:
Joe Biden refers to Chuck Schumer as the Senate “Minority Leader.”
Schumer is currently Senate Majority Leader. #SOTU pic.twitter.com/VsMoL8Evre
— MRCTV (@mrctv) February 8, 2023
UPDATE 9:16 p.m. ET:
Biden says he has signed more than 300 “bipartisan” laws since he took office. “From reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, to the Electoral Count Reform Act, to the Respect for Marriage Act that protects the right to marry the person you love,” Biden said according to prepared remarks, leaning heavily into the bipartisan push in divided government right at the top of the speech.
“To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress,” he continued. “The people sent us a clear message. Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere. And that’s always been my vision for our country. To restore the soul of the nation. To rebuild the backbone of America, the middle class. To unite the country. We’ve been sent here to finish the job. For decades, the middle class was hollowed out.”
UPDATE 9:12 p.m. ET:
Biden congratulates McCarthy on being elected Speaker, and shakes his hand.
“I start tonight by congratulating the members of the 118th Congress and the new Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy,” Biden said, turning around to embrace McCarthy.
He added that he doesn’t want to hurt McCarthy’s reputation, but looks forward to working with him.
Biden also congratulates House Democrat Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He also gives a shoutout to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
UPDATE 9:09 p.m. ET:
McCarthy introduces Biden, and Biden begins his speech.
UPDATE 9:06 p.m. ET:
The White House just published Biden’s full remarks as prepared for delivery.
UPDATE 9:03 p.m. ET:
Biden is entering the chamber now, shaking hands with members as he walks down the aisle.
UPDATE 9:00 p.m. ET:
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) is seen on CSPAN cameras shaking hands with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Meanwhile, Jill Biden is sitting next to Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. The two shared an odd embrace when she came in.
UPDATE 8:57 p.m. ET:
The Cabinet members are entering now. The president will follow soon.
UPDATE 8:56 p.m. ET:
First Lady Jill Biden has entered her seat in the gallery above the chamber.
UPDATE 8:55 p.m. ET:
The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have entered the Chamber. The Cabinet and then the president will follow soon.
UPDATE 8:52 p.m. ET:
These are the members McCarthy and Harris appointed to escort committee to escort Biden into the Chamber:
.@SpeakerMcCarthy appointed the following members to an escort committee for @POTUS:@SteveScalise
@RepTomEmmer@RepStefanik@RepRichHudson@USRepGaryPalmer@RepMikeJohnson@RepLCD
@RepKiggans
1/2— House Press Gallery (@HouseDailyPress) February 8, 2023
2/2@RepJeffries
@RepKClark@RepPeteAguilar@RepTedLieu@RepDelBene
@WhipClyburn@RepJoeNeguse@RepJudyChu— House Press Gallery (@HouseDailyPress) February 8, 2023
The @VP appointed the following Senators to an escort committee for @POTUS: @SenSchumer@SenatorDurbin@PattyMurray@SenStabenow@SenAmyKlobuchar@SenatorBaldwin@LeaderMcConnell@SenJohnThune@SenJohnBarrasso@SenCapito@SenJoniErnst@SteveDaines
— House Press Gallery (@HouseDailyPress) February 8, 2023
UPDATE 8:49 p.m. ET:
McCarthy has gaveled the joint session of Congress into session, and is announcing the members from both parties who will escort the president of the United States into the chamber.
Harris is also appointing senators to escort the president in as well.
UPDATE 8:46 p.m. ET:
Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is seen chatting with Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT):
MARK MILLEY, chairman of the joint chiefs, chatting with Jon Tester, the Senate Democrat who controls the Pentagon’s budget.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 8, 2023
UPDATE 8:39 p.m. ET:
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who just left the Democrat Party to become an independent even though she is still caucusing with Democrats, is wearing a bright yellow dress to the State of the Union:
State of the Senate pic.twitter.com/vVicVjq1ZD
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) February 8, 2023
UPDATE 8:37 p.m. ET:
Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are in the House chamber awaiting Biden’s arrival. Also, tonight, former President Trump says he will offer live reactions to the address on his Truth Social account.
UPDATE 8:30 p.m. ET:
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have exited the White House and entered the presidential limousine as they begin the journey up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol for the address.
UPDATE 8:22 p.m. ET:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who spent most of the day walking around Capitol Hill with a white balloon, just apparently entered the House chamber WITHOUT a balloon. It is unclear what Greene may or may not have planned in terms of State of the Union shenanigans to disrupt Biden:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene just walked into the House chamber — no white balloon. “He can’t take care of the spy balloon, but I can take care of my balloon.”@mychaelschnell asks, any other theatrics planned? “Well, I don’t know … You never know what the President may inspire.”
— Emily Brooks (@emilybrooksnews) February 8, 2023
For more on Greene and the balloon she had all day on Capitol Hill, read this report and watch the video from Breitbart News’s Ashley Oliver who interviewed Greene earlier–balloon in tow–at the House GOP conference’s prebuttal event to the State of the Union address.
UPDATE 8:17 p.m. ET:
Dr. Ben Carson is there for the address:
Dr. Ben Carson is here for the state of the union.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 8, 2023
It’s hardly his first one. As Trump’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Carson has been to several State of the Union addresses.
UPDATE 8:13 p.m. ET:
Even the Washington Post’s chief fact checker is already accusing Biden of lying and he has not even left the White House yet:
Based on the SOTU excerpts, Biden will use the misleading claim we identified earlier today–> “As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs – more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years.”
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) February 7, 2023
UPDATE 8:10 p.m. ET:
Sanders, in the GOP response, is going to make a number of arguments against the Biden vision for the country.
“In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race, but not to love one another or our great country,” the Arkansas Governor will say, per excerpts her office released.
“And while you reap the consequences of their failures, the Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day,” Sanders will also say. “Most Americans simply want to live their lives in freedom and peace, but we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn’t start and never wanted to fight.Every day, we are told that we must partake in their rituals, salute their flags, and worship their false idols…all while big government colludes with Big Tech to strip away the most American thing there is—your freedom of speech.That’s not normal. It’s crazy, and it’s wrong.”
Sanders will also call for more jobs and fuller paychecks for American workers.
“Republicans believe in an America where strong families thrive in safe communities,” she will say. “Where jobs are abundant, and paychecks are rising. Where the freedom our veterans shed their blood to defend is the birthright of every man, woman, and child.”
UPDATE 8:07 p.m. ET:
Biden is actually going to argue in his speech that Jan. 6, 2021, was the greatest threat to American democracy since the Civil War, per excerpts released by the White House:
Here are the excerpts from Joe Biden’s speech tonight that includes once again saying that January 6 was the greatest threat to our democracy since the Civil War. pic.twitter.com/KcldJNnW6W
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 7, 2023
He is also going to call on Republicans to “work together” with him in a bipartisan manner, a sharp departure from his speech last year calling out the GOP as “extreme” in his infamous Dark Brandon speech.
