President Joe Biden gave his second State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, marking the halfway point of his four-year term as Commander in Chief. While the president focused on the economy, he did invoke God in a more serious manner than in his previous SOU address.
BACKGROUND: LOW JOB APPROVAL RATINGS
Polls indicate that the public is displeased with his performance. Recent polls posted on fivethirtyeight.com show his approval rating at 43.2%, and 52.2% of Americans disapproving at this point in his presidency. This compares to a 40.2% approval rating for his predecessor, Donald Trump, at this stage. His former boss, Barack Obama, had an approval rating of 48.5% when giving his second State of the Union Address. Indeed, polling shows that his ratings began to fall almost immediately after he entered the Oval Office and have been net negative (more Americans disapproving than approving) for 16 months, putting him on a par with Trump.
Even within his own party, he lacks support. Only about 34% of Democrats favor a Biden-Harris ticket in 2024.
His lack of support was evident last night as he was heckled at several points by Republican lawmakers. GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was forced to request that the heckling stop.
HONORED GUEST
This was the first SOU since 2019 that permitted guests. Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, brought Ruth Cohen as a guest. Cohen, 92, survived the Holocaust after being interned in numerous concentration camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Other guests included Ukrainian Ambassador to Washington Oksana Markarova, Irish singer and activist Bono, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul.
FOCUS ON ECONOMY
Biden focused most of the address on the economy which is a weak point for his administration with recent polls showing that only about 37% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy. 41% of Americans say their personal finances have gotten worse since he took office. He touted achievements, like record-low unemployment and falling inflation, that were disputed by fact-checkers.
He also claimed to have improved the infrastructure, lowered prescription drug prices for seniors, and increased manufacturing.
Noticeably absent from the SOU were social issues that are foremost for so many Americans.
MENTIONED ‘GOD’ SIX TIMES
Biden invoked the word ‘God’ six times. He described the elderly and people with disabilities as “doing God’s work” and quoted the mother of a victim of police brutality as saying her son had “faith in God.” Biden thanked God for passing gun laws and called for national unity since all people were created in the image of God. He ended his speech with the classic, “ May God bless you all. May God protect our troops.” This compares to his using the word ‘God’ seven times in the 2022 SOU, albeit as a generic invective in all but the last two usages.
