Let them try…

The president’s state of the union is one of those yearly traditions that anyone can take or leave. Under Donald Trump, it was the usual song and dance but he got props from the press for just staying on script. Under President Obama, Republicans routinely made asses of themselves – screaming “You lie!” during midspeech, and letting their racism be on full display that they then used for a fundraising opportunity. However, these addresses were often a chance for his approval ratings to steadily improve. President Biden, meanwhile, has generally also enjoyed a boost in his approval ratings with the televised speech – particularly in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, or when he got Republicans to publicly denounce their own social security cuts.

It’s probably for these reasons that the GOP is actually trying to keep President Biden from giving his address on Thursday – despite Mike Johnson already giving the president the traditional invitation to give one. Senate Republicans like Joni Ernst behind the plan are pretending that it’s due to the president not giving a budget proposal, as that’s not even in his job description, but they’re really about keeping him from giving a speech that on average will reach more people than anything Donald Trump is doing for campaigning this year.

Despite the narrative about President Biden being old and out of touch, the Senate Republicans don’t seem to believe it themselves – that’s the takeaway here. They can’t prevent the speech from happening, and they’re furious they can’t – knowing the charismatic speeches the president has given in the past. They know President Biden will hit one out of the park and there’s nothing they can do about it. That’s why we need to re-elect him and all Democrats on Nov 5.