President Biden — or whichever handler has the unfortunately responsibility of posting for him and reading his replies — tweeted Monday morning that he was "Getting ready" for his State of the Union address to be delivered on Tuesday evening. The statement was accompanied by a photo of a speech draft with a coffee mug and plate of cookies nearby, because why shouldn't he get a little reward for his hard work reading what's been written for him.
Getting ready. pic.twitter.com/UhERyDuxTO
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 6, 2023
But some careful observers have worried that the first page of Biden's speech might already be set to trip him up.
Zooming in on the photo reveals the opening lines of Biden's address:
Mr. Speaker.
Madam Vice President.
Our First Lady and Second Gentleman.
Members of Congress and the Cabinet.
Leaders of our military.
Mr. Chief Justice –
and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court .
My fellow Americans.
[PAUSE]
So, will President Biden read everything, and we mean *everything* that scrolls past his tired eyes on the teleprompter?
“My Fellow Americans Pause” https://t.co/VTk8btLhDw
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) February 7, 2023
Make sure you don't read the word inside the brackets Mr. President.
— Matthew Kolken (@mkolken) February 6, 2023
It wouldn't be the first time Biden ran right through every word that he sees, with several previously documented...hiccups...delivering prepared remarks that include added direction to supposedly help Biden deliver speeches. For example, his infamous "end of quote, repeat the line" moment immortalized here:
Joe Biden accidentally reads the part on the teleprompter that says "repeat the line" when they wanted him to say the line again lmfao pic.twitter.com/pS3GdXPe5N
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 8, 2022
And don't forget about the "kleptocratic" muck-up:
Biden's brain just broke, again. pic.twitter.com/tuZub9v1IX
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 28, 2022
Or Biden, clearing using teleprompters, declaring Kamala Harris "president."
BIDEN: "Last week, *President Harris* and I stood in the United States Capitol..." pic.twitter.com/hkfaZTNTRm
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 11, 2022
And if Biden gets frustrated with the prompter or decides to go off-script for some other reason, we know what to expect:
BIDEN: "More than half the women in my administration are women." pic.twitter.com/VAM3Udb3fx
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 2, 2023
A pre-SOTU dispatch from The New York Times quoted "several aides" who described the State of the Union address writing process as one "in which the president demands that sentences be written clearly — no acronyms!"
Will there be gaffes? Almost certainly. Will those pointing to his slip-ups be smeared as ableist? Of course. But Biden's angry yelling, confused recitations, and other speaking issues are not caused by a stutter. Still, the White House will lean on false claims to try quieting any criticism of Biden's address Tuesday night. As usual, Townhall will have full coverage on our liveblog beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET and fact checks, analysis, and more through the rest of the week.