President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address this year boomed from beginning to end. He tackled issues large and small, from defending democracy in Ukraine to ending junk fees and tackling shrinkflation. He was energetic, fast-paced and dynamic — not only offering a compelling speech, but also single-handedly neutralizing the Republicans’ most potent attack against him.
There were plenty of memorable lines. But the moment that really stuck out for me occurred early in the hourlong address.
There were plenty of memorable lines. But the moment that really stuck out occurred early in the hourlong address.
We knew reproductive rights would be a big topic, given the Alabama Supreme Court’s alarming decision in February to recognize frozen embryos as legal persons, effectively imperiling IVF, in vitro fertilization, in the state. And Biden wasted no time standing up for families, invoking IVF within his first few minutes and highlighting multiple official guests who have personally suffered because of regressive conservative anti-abortion policies. IVF provides an essential lifeline for families across America, many of whom have no other option to have children. We’re talking about protecting and growing families — an issue that “pro-life” Republicans love to beat their chests about.
Biden gave conservatives an opportunity to literally stand up for a procedure that helps protect life, leading to one of the most striking visuals of the night. The president entreated the chamber to stand in support of IVF — and it certainly seemed like almost all Republicans in attendance remained rooted in their chairs. Half of the chamber couldn’t be bothered to stand up in support of the very families they previously claimed to support.
Biden then turned his gaze, quite literally, to the Supreme Court. The court’s Dobbs decision was a devastating blow to women’s reproductive rights in this country, rolling back fundamental rights that Americans have enjoyed for decades. “With all due respect, justices, women are not without electoral and political power,” he said, looking down on the robed jurists in attendance. “You’re about to find out just how much they have.”
Republicans rally around a self-proclaimed strongman who kowtows to the world’s autocrats. That’s not strength. Strength is looking Republicans and Supreme Court justices straight in their faces and telling them that they will lose this fight.
Unfortunately for Donald Trump and his campaign, Biden didn’t sound like a man in the throes of cognitive decline. The GOP may have gaslighted itself into selling one version of Joe Biden to its loyal sycophants — but that version exists only in their fever dreams. And the president proved as much tonight.