Biden’s State Of The Union Address Maligned For Its Myriad Manifest Failures

Americans Were Unimpressed With President Biden’s State Of The Union Address, With The Percentage Reacting Very Positively In A CNN Survey Matching A 24-Year Low

“Biden’s 41% [of Americans who watched his speech reacting very positively] matches the previous low in CNN’s speech reaction polls dating back to 1998.” (CNN, 3/02/2022)

CNN’s JAKE TAPPER: “Generally speaking, these are lower marks than you would expect from a such a Democrat disproportionately Democratic audience.
CNN’s DAVID CHALIAN: “We’ve seen over the last year Joe Biden take a slide in the polls. There’s no doubt about it. He’s not just taking a slide with the overall public, he’s also taking a slide—and I think this reflects that—the instant reaction speech—with people who are even supportive of him or who are in his party. And I think, you know, that is what these numbers reflect, is that he, obviously, has been on the decline—there’s nothing in this speech that suggests he turned that around …” (CNN, 3/01/2022)

Reporters And Commentators Found The Speech ‘Totally Out Of Step With Reality For Where Most Americans Are,’ Lacked ‘A Big Policy Shift,’ And Ignored Several Crucial Foreign Policy Issues

The State Of The Union ‘Does Not Necessarily Feel Strong,’ ‘The President Has Very Low Approval Ratings Now On Every Major Issue He Talked About Tonight’

CNN’s JAKE TAPPER: “I have to say the- every president has to say the state of the Union is strong even when it does not necessarily feel strong. There are a lot of hurt people out there.” (CNN, 3/01/2022)

THE DISPATCH’s SARAH ISGUR: “This would have been a really normal run-of-the-mill State of the Union speech for a president who was at 52% approval, 60% approval, where the American people, the majority of them feel like the country is on the right track, but it was totally out of step with reality for where most Americans are …” (ABC, 3/01/2022)

FOX NEWS’ BRET BAIER: “The president has very low approval ratings now on every major issue he talked about tonight and there were a lot of different topics. Illegal immigration surge at the border, inflation at a 40-year high, surging crime in big cities, energy costs on the rise, even more now with Ukraine. So there was a choice this White House had. Some big new policy initiatives or a big shift in policy or a new sales pitch for the same policy. While there were some new projects in there, I didn’t hear a big policy shift and arguably the sales pitch is roughly the same minus the three words ‘Build Back Better’ legislation that stalled on Capitol Hill. He didn’t say the three words together but talked about the same policy this president as he’s walking out of this hall is politically in a vulnerable place but he’s dealing on a big stage in foreign policy and a big moment for the world.” (Fox News, 3/01/2022)

FOX NEWS’ DANA PERINO: “Tonight’s speech was very much base-focused and not about the independents. The independents and the moms are the ones that he’s lost so what mom is going to go to the store tomorrow and say, ‘Wow I feel so much better. I think costs are really going to come down because he said lower costs 17 times in the speech?’ I don’t think that that did anything for independents or suburban moms.” (Fox News, 3/01/2022)

NBC’s RICHARD ENGEL: “The problem is you didn’t hear a great deal of new information.” (NBC, 3/01/2022)

MSNBC’s CHUCK TODD: “I think we were all waiting for it to be tied and all waiting for it to be frankly Ukraine sandwich and it did not land there a little bit. You know. So, again, I just, I think we are all saying the same thing. We all expected more …” (MSNBC, 3/01/2022)

Biden Failed To Mention Last Year’s Disastrous Afghanistan Withdrawal, His Administration’s Perilous And Dogged Negotiations With Iran, Chinese Aggression And Human Rights Abuses, North Korea’s Ongoing Provocations, Or The Mess In Syria

THE WASHINGTON POST’s JOSH ROGIN: “No mention of the Afghanistan withdrawal last year in Biden’s SOTU speech. It’s almost as if the administration doesn’t want to talk about the thousands of Afghans we left behind.” (Josh Rogin, @joshrogin, Twitter, 3/01/2022)

• ROGIN: “No mention of Iran in Biden’s SOTU speech. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want to talk about the deal his administration is working hard to complete.” (Josh Rogin, @joshrogin, Twitter, 3/01/2022)

• ROGIN: “Almost no mention of China in Biden’s SOTU speech. It’s almost if the Biden administration’s attention is so focused on the near term crisis it is losing focus on the longer term threat.” (Josh Rogin, @joshrogin, Twitter, 3/01/2022)

• ROGIN: “No mention of North Korea in Biden’s SOTU speech. It’s almost as if the administration doesn’t have a plan to deal with Kim Jong Un’s growing dangerous and provocative actions.” (Josh Rogin, @joshrogin, Twitter, 3/01/2022)

• ROGIN: “No mention of Syria in Biden’s SOTU speech. It’s almost as if the Biden administration has no Syria strategy at all and has turned a [deaf] ear to the cries of the suffering there.” (Josh Rogin, @joshrogin, Twitter, 3/01/2022)

And Even Media Fact Checkers Couldn’t Excuse Biden’s Misleading Claims About Jobs And The Deficit, Distortions About Inflation, And Outright False Statement About Gun Manufacturers

PRESIDENT BIDEN: “Our economy created over 6.5 million new jobs just last year, more jobs created in one year than ever before in the history of America. …The only president ever to cut the deficit by more than 1 trillion dollars in a single year.”
THE WASHINGTON POST FACT CHECKER: “Both of these figures are misleading because of the context — the impact the once-in-a-century pandemic had on jobs and federal finances. Jobs plunged and deficits soared in 2020 when the coronavirus struck and shuttered the worldwide economy.” (“Fact-Checking President Biden’s 2022 State Of The Union Address,” The Washington Post, 3/01/2022)

BIDEN: “Seventeen Nobel laureates in economics say my plan will ease long-term inflationary pressures.”
THE WASHINGTON POST FACT CHECKER: “Biden referred to a letter signed by 17 Nobel Prize-winning economists, claiming that his spending plan would reduce inflation over time. The letter was released in September, when Biden’s Build Back Better plan called for $3.5 trillion in spending on top of a bipartisan infrastructure plan. It included this line: ‘Because this agenda invests in long-term economic capacity and will enhance the ability of more Americans to participate productively in the economy, it will ease longer-term inflationary pressures.’ But Biden’s plan has changed significantly since then. The bipartisan infrastructure plan became law, but the rest of the spending proposal has been pared back to $1.75 trillion. The tax changes lauded in the letter — higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations — have largely been dropped. In November, we asked the signers if their minds had changed, and some indicated that the proposed changes have lessened the potential impact on inflationary pressures. Moreover, it’s misleading for Biden to suggest that the bill would have an impact on current inflation, as he did by prefacing this line with this statement: “My plan to fight inflation will lower your costs and lower the deficit.” (“Fact-Checking President Biden’s 2022 State Of The Union Address,” The Washington Post, 3/01/2022)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: “BIDEN, asking Congress to pass measures he said would reduce gun violence: ‘Repeal the liability shield that makes gun manufacturers the only industry in America that can’t be sued, the only one.’ THE FACTS: That’s false. While gun manufacturers do have legal protections from being held liable for injuries caused by criminal misuse of their weapons thanks to the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, they are not exempt or immune from being sued.” (“AP FACT CHECK: Biden’s State Of Union Is Off On Guns, Evs,” The Associated Press, 3/02/2022)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: “BIDEN, on Intel’s plans for new factories in central Ohio: ‘Up to eight state-of-the-art factories in one place, 10,000 new jobs.’ THE FACTS: His statement is premature. That many factories are not imminent and may or may not ever be built.” (“AP FACT CHECK: Biden’s State Of Union Is Off On Guns, Evs,” The Associated Press, 3/02/2022)

‘You Could Not Have Watched Biden’s Speech Without Noticing An Unusual Number Of Verbal Miscues’

POLITICO PLAYBOOK: “‘WHAT ABOUT YOUR GAFFES?’ — Finally, you could not have watched Biden’s speech without noticing an unusual number of verbal miscues. Sometimes, they happened when he had trouble reading his teleprompter. Other times, they came when he added something that wasn’t in his prepared remarks…. [T]here were some odd moments Tuesday night: ‘Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he’ll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people,’ Biden said, when of course he meant the Ukrainian people… ‘You think the deer are wearing kevlar vests?’ This line, uttered during a discussion of gun policy, wasn’t in Biden’s prepared remarks…. ‘Go get him!’ Biden curiously called out at the end of the speech. We were left wondering: Get whom? Did he mean Putin? Inflation? Was it a generic ‘Go get ‘em!’ like a coach tells her team before it hits the field? Was it something else? After Twitter erupted in confusion, White House chief of staff RON KLAIN seemed to embrace the line.” (“Politico Playbook: 5 Takeaways From Biden’s Big Night,” Politico, 3/02/2022)

Overall, Biden’s ‘Approval Ratings Are In The Gutter,’ He’s ‘Stymied By A Congress He Can Neither Convince Nor Control,’ And The Reality Is ‘There’s A War In Europe That’s Worsening By The Day, Soaring Inflation, Rising Crime And An Ongoing Crisis At The U.S.-Mexico Border’

PUNCHBOWL NEWS: “So here’s the impact of Biden’s speech: Biden has a pretty bad hand at the moment. His approval ratings are in the gutter. He faces a bitterly divided Congress that has proven both unwilling and unable to move, and he’s not been able to break that logjam or even win over all the Democrats. Covid remains a huge problem although this latest Omicron wave is receding.… There’s a war in Europe that’s worsening by the day, soaring inflation, rising crime and an ongoing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border…. Will any of this turn his party’s lousy political standing around? Probably not – not without the help of the unmovable object that is the Democratic Congress. But, again, that’s the political reality that Biden has been given, and it’s a reality that he’s been unable to change.” (Punchbowl News AM, 3/02/2022)

But That Didn’t Stop Biden From Attempting To Revive His Reckless Taxing And Spending Proposal, This Time As ‘A Deconstructed Laundry List Of The Policy Priorities’ Best Summarized As, ‘Biden’s Plan To Fight Inflation Is To Spend’

“Without mentioning the Build Back Better Act once – bowing to reality that the package he envisioned is all but dead – Biden offered a deconstructed laundry list of the policy priorities he’d like to see get passed. But in doing that, Biden also offered a harsh reminder to Democrats about just how much of his agenda has been left undone, stymied by a Congress he can neither convince nor control.” (Punchbowl News AM, 3/02/2022)

• “He embraced his progressive credentials, calling for increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour and setting aside more money to fight climate change. Biden still wants universal pre-K, higher taxes on corporations and the rich, and more affordable housing and better health care. He scolded CEOs to “lower your costs, not your wages.” Biden’s plan to fight inflation is to spend.” (Punchbowl News AM, 3/02/2022)

As Biden Attempted To Resurrect His Reckless Taxing And Spending Plans, ‘West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) Poured Cold Water On President Biden’s Attempt’: ‘They Just Can’t Help Themselves … Nothing’s Changed’

POLITICO PLAYBOOK: “A PLAN B (C? D?) FOR BBB — If you were hoping for Biden to namecheck his ‘Build Back Better’ agenda in the SOTU, you’re out of luck. BBB is dead. But its component parts? Maybe not. On Tuesday night, Biden listed some familiar policies he’d like to see stick around — negotiating prescription drug prices, mitigating climate change and investing in the care economy. But instead of labeling them as part of his BBB social-spending plan, he framed them as ‘Building a Better America’ — an effort to ‘fight inflation … and lower the deficit.’ More to the point, it’s also an effort to get Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) back to the negotiating table. And by that measure, his new framework came up short.” (“Politico Playbook: 5 Takeaways From Biden’s Big Night,” Politico, 3/02/2022)

“West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) poured cold water on President Biden’s attempt to revive the core elements of his Build Back Better agenda, questioning the president’s claim that passing a $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion spending package would ‘lower costs’ for most Americans. ‘They just can’t help themselves,’ Manchin quipped when asked by reporters after Biden’s State of the Union speech whether he was surprised by the president’s effort to try to use the moment to try to revive his stalled climate and social spending plan. ‘I don’t know where that came from,’ he joked. ‘Nothing’s changed,’ he said. ‘There might be parts they want to talk about. I don’t know. That was a little bit far,’ he added, referring to the list of expensive Build Back Better items that Biden tried to put back on the table Tuesday evening.” (“Manchin Pours Water On Biden’s Attempt To Revive Build Back Better,” The Hill, 3/01/2022)

Sen. Manchin Also Wasn’t Buying Biden’s Absurd Spin That His Same Spending Plans Would Magically ‘Fight Inflation’

“Manchin also sounded skeptical about Biden’s claim that his Build Back Better plan will fight inflation by lowering costs.” (“Manchin Pours Water On Biden’s Attempt To Revive Build Back Better,” The Hill, 3/01/2022)

• PRESIDENT BIDEN: “My plan to fight inflation will lower your costs and lower the deficit.” (President Biden, State of the Union Address, 3/01/2022)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): “I’ve never found out that you can lower costs by spending more.”
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): “You can’t say it better than that.” (“Manchin Pours Water On Biden’s Attempt To Revive Build Back Better,” The Hill, 3/01/2022)

Meanwhile, Democrats’ Disarray Was On Full Display Last Night, With No Less Than THREE House Democrats Delivering Separate Responses To A State Of The Union Address By A President Of Their Own Party

“Three House Democrats are giving responses to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) will give a speech on behalf of the Working Families Party, while Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) will deliver a message on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus. The centrist group No Labels also announced Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) would provide ‘a bipartisan perspective’ immediately following Biden’s address — although the congressman slammed Tlaib for offering her own response.” (“There Will Be *Three* Democratic Responses To This Year’s State Of The Union Address. That Number’s Been Growing In Recent Years.,” Politico’s Congress Minutes, 3/01/2022)

Feuding Dems Launched Salvos At Each Other, With One Side Heaving ‘A Stinging Critique Of Centrist Democrats’ While The Other Blasted Progressives Back For ‘Keying Your Own Car And Slashing Your Own Tires’

“Rep. Rashida Tlaib  (D-Mich.) offered a stinging critique of centrist Democrats following President Biden’s State of the Union address, showing Americans what unfiltered progressive ideology could look like during a time of national unrest…. To Tlaib, that promise for an agenda that benefits what she dubbed a ‘working families majority,’ has diminished at the hands of a few antagonists on Capitol Hill … Tlaib criticized Republicans and ‘just enough corporate-backed obstructionists’ in the Democratic Party to tank the efforts to pass the bill last year. Tlaib, a two-term congresswoman who represents part of Detroit, is a particularly divisive choice among Democrats to succeed the president’s hourlong speech.” (“Tlaib Offers Stinging Critique Of Centrist Democrats Following Biden Address,” The Hill, 3/01/2022)

“Centrist House Democrats are unloading on Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for her plan to give a response to President Biden’s State of the Union address tomorrow. ‘It’s like keying your own car and slashing your own tires,’ Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) told Axios.” (Axios Sneak Peek, Axios, 3/01/2022)

And Even As Biden Attempted To Rhetorically Distance Himself From Years Of Democrats Calling For Defunding The Police, ‘One Of The Most Vocal Supporters Of The Push In Congress To Defund The Police Slammed Biden … And Repeated Her Calls To Defund The Police’

“President Biden broke with progressive members of his party during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night saying that the answer is ‘not to defund’ police departments across the country…. Biden’s comment comes after years of Democrats calling for police departments across the country to be abolished and defunded in the wake of the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020.” (“Biden Slammed By Both Sides Of The Aisle For SOTU Claim That Defunding Police ‘Not The Answer,’” Fox News, 3/01/2022)

“Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), one of the most vocal supporters of the push in Congress to defund the police, slammed Biden on Twitter for not mentioning “saving Black lives” in his address and repeated her calls to defund the police.”

• REP. CORI BUSH (D-MO): “With all due respect, Mr. President. You didn’t mention saving Black lives once in this speech. All our country has done is given more funding to police…. Defund the police. Invest in our communities.” (Rep. Bush, @CoriBush, Twitter, 3/01/2022)