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Some White House staffer made a serious mistake on Thursday night – sending U.S. president Joe Biden to Capitol Hill with a copy of his Democratic convention acceptance speech instead of his State of the Union address.
Biden made presidential history on March 7, 2024, by delivering the most overtly partisan State of the Union talk ever. He wasn’t the chief executive reporting on conditions in the country (what the speech is supposed to be about); he was the master of ceremonies overseeing a Democratic campaign pep rally – and a Jerry Springer Show pep rally at that.
For more than an hour, the Capitol was transformed into a partisan hootenanny as Democrats threw decorum to the wind. They alternately hooted and booed and repeatedly broke into chants of “Four More Years!”
Everything was contrived. After arriving late, Biden moved toward the rostrum slower than a bride going down a church aisle, milking the TV time with the subtlety of a ham actor.
Two things were obvious from the get-go: The speech was tailored to appeal exclusively to the Democratic base, and the president had been coached to exude energy and enthusiasm.
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Biden didn’t bother pretending he was talking to independents, swing voters, or even Nikki Haley/ #NeverTrump Republicans. He was there to rally and motivate his party’s foot soldiers, pure and simple. He was also overly coached. Someone obviously gave him too many shots of Geritol beforehand. But in his effort to appear bounding with energy, he came off to many observers as a cantankerous, angry old man.
There were plenty of age-related stumbles. For starters, Biden began speaking before House Speaker Mike Johnson had given the traditional introduction. At one point he said “Moscow” when he strayed off the Teleprompter while he was talking about Toronto. Words were slurred and names mangled.
Apart from how he spoke, there was the matter of what he said. Credit Biden with at least this much: he did bother covering himself with the thinnest of fig leaves, saying “my predecessor” instead of “Donald Trump” and talking about radicals without actually saying the words “MAGA Republicans.” But there was no mistaking who he meant. Beyond that, it was gloves off as he went after Republicans, at one point snarkily referring to them as “you guys.”
While crassly partisan, Biden – an erstwhile “uniter” – was nonetheless obsessed with using the phrase “our democracy.” He repeated it over and over like a family parrot with a two-word vocabulary. By the way, did you know our so-called “democracy” is currently facing its greatest threat since Nazi hordes overran Europe in World War II? It must be because Biden started off by saying so. However, in Biden-speak, anyone whose views differ from his own qualifies as a threat to “our democracy.”
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Biden’s campaign carnival had something for almost everyone. He promised to rain tax dollars in a spending deluge that would’ve drowned Noah’s family and even managed to thread the Israel-Palestinian needle by saying positive things about both sides. (Some savvy politician also cut a shrewd deal beforehand: Rep. Rashida Tlaib and a fellow “Squad” member had small signs resembling old-fashioned church fans bearing the words “Stop Sending Bombs” and “Lasting Ceasefire Now” – but they remained silent, sparing Biden the embarrassment of being shouted down by members of his own party).
Biden played all his greatest hits. He trotted out the so-called January 6, 2021, “insurrection” and didn’t miss an opportunity to pander to a single member of the traditional Democratic base: Union members, teachers, blacks, same-sex couples, green energy crusaders, college student loan forgivers, gun grabbers, pro-abortion activists … he slobbered love over each and every group and promised action, invariably in the form of heaping servings of federal tax dollars. He even cussed a few times for good measure, just to remind everyone he’s a Regular Joe from Scranton, Pa.
Biden did make news by saying the name Laken Riley, the coed who was murdered last month on the campus of the University of Georgia – allegedly by an illegal alien who was allowed to remain in the country thanks to Biden administration policies. A Johnny-come-lately convert to border security, Biden nonetheless argued that he – and he alone – is trying to slow the tidal way of undocumented immigrants flooding into the country.
Left unmentioned? The millions of illegal immigrants who poured across our borders when he reversed Trump’s policies on January 20, 2021.
The entire event was custom-made for Democrats who, understandably, loved every minute of it. The MSM glowingly reported afterward how vibrant and dynamic Biden appeared. To independent and Republican viewers, however, not so much.
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RELATED | NOW BIDEN IS SERIOUS ABOUT IMMIGRATION?
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The one person who did score big points on Thursday night was Katie Britt. Alabama’s freshman U.S. senator delivered the Republican response from the kitchen table of her home in Montgomery. Youthful and telegenic, she radiated sincerity and was a stark contrast to Biden’s “Oscar the Grouch” scowl. (Though, like Biden, she seemed to have also been over-coached and, at times, emoted like Bette Davis.)
Still, it was a successful debut for her on the national stage.
While many House Democrats behaved badly, there were plenty of bad actors in the Republican camp as well. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s decision to sport a red MAGA hat was grossly inappropriate for the occasion; at one point, she shouted directly at Biden – channeling Georgia trailer trash.
One couldn’t help wondering what the ghosts of Harry Truman, Ike, John F. Kennedy, and LBJ would say if they had looked down at the whole sorry spectacle.
The luckiest draw of the night went to education secretary Miguel Cardona. As the designated “sole survivor,” he was kept at a secure location to guarantee continuity of government in the event of a tragedy. Thus, he was spared enduring the dismal charade.
Biden began his remarks with a lame joke. Responding to the thundering ovation, he quipped, “If I were smart, I would go home now.” That was the one thing he got right in the entire one-hour, eight-minute Democratic pep rally, which was cheap and shabby and totally beneath the dignity of his office.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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16 comments
lol
Biden did a fantastic job of rallying Democrat voters and taking the GQP to task for their dismal failures over the last year and their compliancy in the Jan 6th terror attack on our Capitol.
The true disastrous failure of a ‘speech’ came from the Republican response from the ding bat, wannabe actress that’s currently playing Senator from Alabama. Even Republicans are savaging her piss poor ‘performance’ as a major mistake.
Biden showed himself anything but sleepy, by handling the cackling impotent hens of the Republicans (they acted like silly kids) while delivering the best speech of his Presidency, so far. Republicans showed themselves to be sad people not to be taken seriously. That’s why they will lose the White House again.
First and foremost: Donald J. Trump didn’t lose the 2020 election. The election was rigged in Biden’s favor. Second: January 6th was NOT an insurrection. Everyone knows the truth. The absolute worst thing that has ever happened to this once great country. The incompetent Joe Biden was placed in the Oval office and the USA has suffered and may never regain a sensible and fair Government.
Second and just as important: The Earth is flat. The sun revolves around the Earth. The moon landing was a hoax. JFK, Jr. is still alive and in hiding with Elvis and Bigfoot. 9/11 was an inside job. Birds aren’t real.
What a one-sided review. That piece of crap from Britt was a joke. Why was that totally partisan BS ok, but you thought Biden was too partisan? Britt was totally disingenuous. A rich white lady making 200k a year with a husband making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year working as a Washington LOBBYIST and kids attending private school, pretending to be just an everyday mom. We make decisions around the kitchen table. Don’t make me gag, too late I already did. And can you believe those fake tears as she says we are worried our children won’t be able to achieve the American dream? Give me a break. A couple of rich kids, starting life with politically connected parents, millions of dollars in the bank, and a high-dollar education, can’t achieve the American Dream? I think the country saw her for what she is. A total fraud. Just like Trump.
She did not say one thing she supported, one thing Republicans would do, or one thing Republicans have done to make America better for everyday Americans. Just another empty suit. Like everyone in the MAGA cult.
I am glad you feel comfortable speaking for independents since you are not one. I am sure the Trumpers were not happy with Biden’s speech. He did not come across as a demented old man, like they hoped he would But don’t speak for Independents. Because I am very much an independent, and I thought what he said needed to be said. I thought the Republican response was very weak, with no policy ideas, no goals for the country, and no ideas as to how to bring the country together. Just grievance politics. What about Social Security, what about Medicare, what about childcare for working moms, what about the fact that the last two Republican presidents have lost jobs on their watch, while the last two Democratic Presidents have had record job growth on their watch? What about Ukraine and the Russian threat? What do you propose to do about China? When you are a party that has done nothing for the past two years, you would think you would explain why and how you will make changes. But she did not. Nothing but complaints. No solutions.
And what was the we support IVF. Really, because you have spent the last decade trying to take away the rights of women. You have signed on to legislation that says life begins as conception, even though you know that makes IVF impossible. And you leaders won’t even attempt to reconcile your irreconcilable, ill-thought-out decisions that are not hurting women all over this country.
I guess in the end I am no longer the voter the Republican party cares about. Because I found nothing appealing about Ms. Britt.
How old is Mark Powell? Maybe it’s age and dementia but I think he forgot a few of Trump’s SOTU speeches.
Up until yesterday, several House Republicans and US Senators were trying to figure out how to prevent Biden from delivering the speech and went on cable tv to talk about it. That gives Biden plenty of cover for right wingers to think he gave a “partisan speech”
The speech was good for Biden. He accomplished what he wanted and got good publicity – even from some Republicans. I think average Americans that tuned in and don’t really follow politics much (which is most Americans) probably thought the same thing I did – Biden looked like he was fired up and seemed in command of the issues and some polls today reflect that reality.
Michael Smerconish on his Sirius radio program this morning pointed out that Republicans- like Mark Powell here- were suddenly not focused on his age in their remarks. Biden was able to do well enough to get them off their talking points to the point they were criticizing the speech as “too partisan.” That’s a win for Biden.
Senator Britt on the other hand had a difficult time. There were a number of reports today of Republicans blasting her speech, off the record of course.
She seemed uncomfortable and the breathless stuff was just odd. It was like she was so nervous she couldn’t catch her breath. The kitchen backdrop was also strange. Not sure Republicans benefit from having a female United States Senator standing in her kitchen.
Then today, Tommy Tuberville is on tv awkwardly talking about how she was showing herself as a “housewife.” Tommy just sounds sort of creepy when he talks about any woman and sounded creepy talking about her. I am sure plenty of women that say or read his comments won’t like that too much.
Leave it to Republicans to try to appeal to today’s women by showing an airhead extremist in the kitchen, where of course, they think women belong, when they’re not busy having unwanted pregnancies.
And subsequent fact-checking on Katie “I’m using my babygirl voice to give this speech from my kitchen” Britt, reveals that the story she told about a horrific rape was a lie. That didn’t happen in the US–it happened in Mexico–in 2015 and was recounted in Senate testimony regarding political asylum seekers, but thanks to GOP historical revisionism, suddenly, it happened in the US during Biden’s administration. But hey–it’s the GOP–who cares if they use facts as long as it fits their dystopian talking points, right? Mark has apparently forgotten the time when SOTU speeches were non-partisan. That ended when one Joe Wilson, from the great state of (checks notes)…SC, leapt to his feet to call Obama a liar. From then on, it’s been a free-for-all from the GOP as Wilson was able to fund raise like crazy after that display. It’s all about the money! So we got the clownish trio of MTG, Bobo, and the transvestite disgraced former GOP rep from NY popping up like jack-in-the-boxes and openly screaming at last year’s SOTU. MTG tried her best again this year to trash up the joint, but what the GOP and Mark are really steaming about is that the Biden they thought was going to show up didn’t and when he did, he called these clowns out. No wonder Mark is over here sucking on sour grapes and eating humble pie after that knockout. Meanwhile, Trump still thinks Obama is president and is making dementia addled statements that are raising concern from neurologists, but yeah, sure, that’ll go great for y’all in November.
So Biden’s actions were “cheap and shabby and totally beneath the dignity of the office.” My, my, my. and benighted souls like you think that Donald Trump brought dignity to the office?
Only in the bizarro world of Fitsnews would Katie Britt be praiseworthy. She came across as a bipolar housewife liable to poison her family, even conservatives were shaking their heads and saying wtf was that…
And f-yeah Biden gave a campaign speech. For 3 1/2 years he’s tried to work with an opposing party who considers compromise evil and is blocking any solutions to the border “crisis” so Dementia Don can stoke fear and have something to run on. Any future “migrant crime” is on their hands.
“She came across as a bipolar housewife liable to poison her family”
Really did a bang up job representing the stuck tradwife demographic in the Republican party, stuck at home doing everything while hubby parties, cheats and merely exists as the Nth kid at home. Why can’t women see the glory of a ideal conservative family unit?
If that was Joe Biden, which I seriously doubt, he had been drugged to the max. Like a leopard changing it’s spots. We want AND need our legally elected President in the Oval office and sanity will prevail.
Obviously you have not watched Biden in the last 6-12 months. He was either given some kind of medication or was laying in bed for the previous four days to muster enough energy to speak. Actually, just the other day he was campaigning and said “Send me to congress”. Last check, he was running for president, right? Democrats are everything but sane and are destroying this country…everything from the border to inflation.
“If that was Joe Biden, which I seriously doubt”
Hahahahaha… Instantly gave up the L. Same as FITS, just different strategy. Not even telling us we didn’t see what we saw, you’re telling yourself you didn’t see what you saw. The delusion is coming from inside your house.
Maybe Biden whipped out the top secret 6G? Tripled the chemtrails? Who knows?
lol what bizarro world must you live in to think Britt’s rebuttal was good? This whole article must be great copium for your readers.
So are you as impressed with Ms. Britt, after we found out she used a story about sex trafficking from the Bush administration and tried to pin it on Biden? Yesterday, the lady Britt referred to in her speech, Karla Jacinto Romeroshe, spoke out on CNN. She said she was a victim of sex trafficking, but it did not involve cartels as Britt said, and it happened when she was living in Mexico in the early 2000s. She also said that after her testimony before Congress, and the meeting she attended with Britt and other Republican legislators, not one Republican, including Ms. Britt, approached her about helping with legislation to reduce sex trafficking. She was not told Britt was going to use her story in the speech and was angry that her story was not only used for political purposes but altered by Britt for political purposes.
Almost all Republicans openly lie now. They have learned from Trump that lying is fine if it helps you win. Britt like so many other Republicans these days has no morals, no ethics, and no ideas.