- Joe Biden is set to give his third State of the Union address on Thursday.
- He needs the speech more than he ever has before.
President Joe Biden may never have a moment like this again.
On Thursday, Biden is set to deliver his State of the Union address to what could be his largest audience before Election Day. Polling indicates he'll speak to a nation that not only is skeptical of some of his policies but also questions his ability to physically do the job. The special counsel Robert Hur's recent conclusion about Biden's memory (a finding Biden has strongly disputed) has elevated concerns about the president's standing.
No matter what Biden has accomplished as president, he has yet to assuage Americans' worries that he can fulfill what one of former President Ronald Reagan's biographers deemed "the role of a lifetime." Fairly or unfairly, every flub, gaffe, and stumble is taken as further evidence of the thesis that Biden can't perform his duties.
In this sense, Biden's speech comes with additional pressure. Regardless of whether he addresses questions about his age directly, the topic is set to loom over the evening, just as it has for most of his first term.
It's an undeniable fact that fewer Americans watch the speech than a generation ago, according to Nielsen's historical ratings that go back to 1993. But even in the peak streaming era, the address remains one of the few events that tens of millions of Americans still watch live, a distinction that's almost exclusively shared with NFL football games. Usually, an incumbent president running for reelection could also bank on the fall debates. As of now, it remains unclear whether a debate will happen this fall. On Wednesday, Trump distanced himself from the Republican National Committee's previous withdrawal from the nonprofit organization that has hosted every presidential debate since 1988. Trump wrote on his social-media platform that he was calling for debates "ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE!"
The State of the Union is not an explicit campaign speech.
Unlike Biden, most incumbent presidents delivered their addresses far earlier in the primary calendar. After former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley's decision to drop out of the GOP race, both the Democratic and the Republican primaries are now effectively over. Timing aside, presidents preparing for November have used the address to extoll their achievements and frame the broad outlines of their reelection campaigns.
Fellow Democrats have, in the words of Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, urged Biden to "brag more" about his record. It makes sense then that you'll probably hear him talk about the major bipartisan bills he's signed into law on infrastructure, domestic superconductor production, and gun control.
But bragging more may not be enough.
Polling suggests Americans are deeply unhappy with the Biden administration's handling of immigration. Despite the economy showing signs of improvement, a recent Wall Street Journal poll found that only 40% of respondents approved of Biden's handling of the issue.
Sen. Bernie Sanders privately offered slightly different advice, The Washington Post reported. Sanders urged Biden to confront this reality not by trying to sell his record more but by pointing out how big business and other boogeymen were trying to thwart his agenda, the Post said.
The White House communications director, Ben LaBolt, said Biden would tout his economic record.
"I think the president is going to make the case that we've rebuilt the strongest economy in the world and done it in a way that benefited the average American," LaBolt told CNN on Wednesday evening. "Wages are up. Inflation is down by two-thirds. Fifteen million jobs have been created, more jobs than under any president or any administration."
Biden is also facing pressures within his own party over his handling of Israel's response to Hamas' October 7 terrorist attack. Some progressives have promoted a campaign urging Democrats to vote "uncommitted" as an unmistakable sign that they're unhappy with Biden's position on the war.
Thursday night's speech will not be the end of any of these discussions. But now that his 2024 campaign has essentially begun, Biden will have the opportunity to lay out his vision for what's ahead.
He needs this moment more than he ever has before.