“I will tell you about our progress and plans.”
Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union speech on Thursday, March 7, a high point in American political life which generally allows the current president to take stock of his actions.
And this year, as the 81-year-old Democratic candidate, running for a second term, tries to find momentum in his campaign against his rival Donald Trump, his speech promises to be particularly scrutinized.
I'm headed to the Capitol tonight to deliver my State of the Union address.
Join us at 9pm ET to hear how far we've come in building the economy from the middle out and the bottom up and the work we have left to lower costs and protect our freedoms against MAGA attacks.
pic.twitter.com/cpflojaeCH
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 7, 2024
At 9 p.m. local time (1 a.m. GMT Friday) at the Capitol in Washington, the head of protocol of the House of Representatives will proclaim the ritual formula addressed to the head of this institution: “Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States!”
("Mister Speaker, the president of the United States!). But it is as a candidate that Joe Biden will advance between the aisles, and it is a campaign program that he will unfold.
Faced with millions of Americans, the majority of whom consider him too old to represent himself or even to govern, he will have to prove his endurance during a speech which generally lasts more than an hour.
Joe Biden, faced with gloomy polls, believes he has "done more in three years than most other presidents in eight", especially in economic matters.
Economy, IVG, Ukraine...
The White House guest list for this solemn occasion announces the themes he will address.
There will be the head of the large automobile union UAW, Shawn Fain, to illustrate Joe Biden's promise of economic prosperity and social justice.
The president will, according to the White House, reiterate his desire to tax multinationals and billionaires more.
He also intends to evoke his support for the middle class, through lowering the cost of medicines or the erasure of certain student debts.
The dressing room of the First Lady, Jill Biden, will also welcome Kate Cox, a resident of Texas embodying the defense of the right to abortion, a key issue in the campaign.
Carrying a non-viable fetus, she had to leave her conservative state to terminate her pregnancy.
For foreign policy, the White House invited the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, on the day his country formally joined NATO.
The American president is also expected to announce that he has ordered the American army to build a temporary port in Gaza, in order to transport more humanitarian aid by sea into the Palestinian territory besieged by Israel, according to senior officials.
The objective is of course to distinguish himself from Donald Trump, who, among other inflammatory statements, claimed that he would "encourage" Russia to attack the countries of the defense alliance if they did not pay their part.
The Republican said Wednesday he was ready to debate “anywhere, anytime” with Joe Biden.
The former president, surrounded by legal proceedings, promises his supporters to “avenge” the defeat of 2020, which he never recognized.
With AFP
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