The White House announced the guests of First Lady Jill Biden for the speech would include Ukraine’s ambassador, Oksana Markarova, and rock band mega star and HIV/AIDS campaigner Bono. “It’s crazy and it’s wrong,” said Ms Sanders, who has been elected governor of Arkansas since leaving Trump’s administration and is a rising star on the right. And that’s always been my vision for the country: to restore the soul of the nation,” Mr Biden said.ĭelivering the Republican rebuttal to Mr Biden, former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders lashed out at the “radical left” and what she said was an attack against the “freedom and peace” of patriotic Americans. “Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere. Mr Biden’s government warns of financial calamity, with major international implications, if Republicans stick to their guns, potentially pushing the United States into default. “I ran for president to fundamentally change things to make sure our economy works for everyone, so we can all feel that pride,” Mr Biden said.Īmid deep political divisions, Mr Biden urged Republicans now holding the majority in the House of Representatives to show unity - as he accused some among them of taking the US economy “hostage” over the debt ceiling.Ī major crisis is brewing in Congress over Republican refusal to extend the debt limit, usually a rubber stamp procedure. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)Īnd he hit out at big oil companies he accused of making “outrageous” profits. TUS Vice President Kamala Harris and US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy listen as US President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union addres. “This is my view of a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America.”Īmong Mr Biden’s proposals in the speech was a new “billionaire tax” he said was designed to “reward work, not just wealth”. For decades, “manufacturing jobs moved overseas, factories closed down”, Mr Biden said. “We’re better positioned than any country on Earth right now,” he said. Mr Biden touted surging employment figures and told Americans that his economic plan aims to rebuild the country’s manufacturing base despite pressure from the Ukraine war and pandemic disruptions.
“Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken,” Mr Biden said. Referring to Mr Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Mr Biden said that the United States had survived “its greatest threat since the Civil War”. The 73-minute speech saw Mr Biden pitch his centrist, populist vision of a country healing after Covid and the turmoil of Donald Trump’s presidency. US First Lady Jill Biden shares a kiss with Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff.