House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is getting ready to host President Joe Biden on Capitol Hill Tuesday night for the State of the Union address. It will be McCarthy's first time sitting behind Biden with the Speaker's gavel after Republicans took back the House in November 2022.
Given former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's infamous rip up of President Donald Trump's speech in 2020, McCarthy is addressing whether he will engage in the same behavior.
As President @realDonaldTrump concludes the #SOTU, @SpeakerPelosi appears to rip the speech in half. pic.twitter.com/jPylc0eKAz
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 5, 2020
"I don't believe in the theatrics of tearing up speeches," McCarthy said. "I respect the other side, I can disagree on policy. But I want to make sure this country is stronger, economically sound, energy independent, secure and accountable."
A lot of people have been asking if I'm planning on ripping up President Biden’s speech tonight. Here’s my answer: pic.twitter.com/WRlAlYgCbs
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) February 7, 2023
Meanwhile, ahead of Biden's speech Tuesday night McCarthy issued remarks about ongoing debt ceiling negotiations and got in front of attacks the President will no doubt lob against Republicans on issues like Medicare and Social Security.
Cuts to Medicare and Social Security are off the table.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) February 6, 2023
Defaulting on our debt is not an option.
But neither is a future of higher taxes, higher interest rates, and an economy that doesn’t work for working Americans. pic.twitter.com/KhLEEhaNNx
At the White House Monday Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre gave little detail about Biden's planned State of the Union remarks, but did say he is "deeply" involved in the writing process and worked on the contents of the speech over the weekend at Camp David.
"Work has, has gone into the speech over the course of many, many weeks, as we know, because, again, this is something that the President truly sees as a moment to speak to the American people," Jean-Pierre said.