Ahead of President Joe Biden's second State of the Union address Tuesday night, the White House released excerpts from the 46th president's remarks (below) as they were prepared for delivery — but who knows how closely he'll follow what's scrolling in front of him on the teleprompters.
Biden will supposedly say tonight that:
The story of America is a story of progress and resilience…We are the only country that has emerged from every crisis stronger than when we entered it. That is what we are doing again. Two years ago our economy was reeling. As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs – more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years. Two years ago, COVID had shut down our businesses, closed our schools, and robbed us of so much. Today, COVID no longer controls our lives. And two years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken.
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My economic plan is about investing in places and people that have been forgotten. Amid the economic upheaval of the past four decades too many people have been left behind or treated like they’re invisible. Maybe that’s you watching at home. You remember the jobs that went away. And you wonder whether a path even exists anymore for you and your children to get ahead without moving away. I get it. That’s why we’re building an economy where no one is left behind. Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last two years. This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives.
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To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress. The people sent us a clear message. Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere. And that’s always been my vision for the country: to restore the soul of the nation, to rebuild the backbone of America: the middle class, to unite the country. We’ve been sent here to finish the job!
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Oh, "Republican friends," eh? You mean the people Biden spent the last two years smearing as fascists and enemies of America? Apparently the president also hopes to tell Americans not to believe their lying eyes that the economy is in the toilet. If Biden wants to speak to people who "remember the jobs that went away," perhaps he should go talk to the union laborers building the Keystone pipeline he put out of a job on day one in office. Or the workers who decided to walk away from the workforce because his tax-and-spend policies made it more fiscally rewarding to collect a government check than show up to work.
Biden can say whatever he wants — he always does — but he can't change the facts. Clearly, however, he intends to ignore them Tuesday night. The most recent jobs report showed that President Joe "Build Back Better" Biden has failed to build the American economy back, let alone better. The workforce participation rate is still below where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020.
Opposite Biden, Republicans have a realistic and therefore harsher evaluation on the state of our union. That was abundantly clear in Townhall's interviews with House GOP members Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill:
What is the state of our union? @townhallcom went to Capitol Hill on Tuesday ahead of Biden’s address and asked House Republicans. pic.twitter.com/q4fG5RTHfJ
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) February 7, 2023
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said ahead of Biden's speech that "The state of the union is weaker and American families are suffering because of Joe Biden," adding "there is a reason Republicans took back the House, and that’s because of speeches like tonight where Biden will ignore and deflect blame for inflation, rising crime, and a border crisis he created. Americans deserve solutions, but all they’ll hear from Biden are excuses," McDaniel reminded.
Stay with Townhall for live blog coverage beginning at 8:30 p.m. and throughout President Biden's speech and the GOP response delivered by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders as we fact-check the president and bring you all the reactions from Congress, the media, and the American people.
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