SOTU: Let Biden be Biden

Joe Biden defied all expectations Thursday night. We’ll get to that in a minute.

While Thursday was the State of the Union address, it was also a milestone on the way to Monday’s E. Jean Carroll Day for all who celebrate. It was the demise of Trump’s last-ditch effort to stave off the requirement that he file an appeal bond to guarantee he will pay the $83.3 million judgment in Carroll’s favor if the appeal does not go his way. Which it won’t.

Trump filed a request that trial Judge Lewis Kaplan delay the deadline for filing, reduce the amount of the bond he had to make, or both. When Judge Kaplan didn’t rule fast enough for Trump, he renewed that request. But Judge Kaplan isn’t playing. He said Trump had been on notice that he needed to get his finances in order since the January 26 verdict, but failed to do so, which, in Judge Kaplan’s judgment, made Trump’s “current situation” his own fault, “a result of his dilatory actions.”

Trump has until Monday. Then Carroll can start the collection process, even with an appeal pending. E. Jean Carroll, as usual, was on point.

In the Mar-a-Lago case, two additional prosecutors filed their notices of appearance, the formal way a lawyer advises a judge they will be participating in a case. One of those lawyers handled Trump’s appeal on presidential immunity to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, leading to widespread speculation Jack Smith is gearing up to appeal Judge Aileen Cannon to the Eleventh Circuit.

Cannon will have to issue an appealable order before that can happen. But that moment may well come when she rules on pending classified discovery issues or Trump’s request to make the names of witnesses public.

In a pleading today updating the Judge on the government’s compliance with its ongoing discovery obligations, prosecutors wrote they’d provided Trump and his co-defendants with their fourteenth batch of discovery materials. That includes “the memorialization of an interview conducted on March 6, 2024.” No word on what that’s about. It could be a routine matter, or it could signify something more interesting. We’ll keep an eye on that and see if any reporters are able to ferret out the substance.

But the big show today was Biden’s SOTU address. It sounded what are sure to be key campaign themes. And Biden was fiery, a much needed counterpoint to Trump’s constant vendetta-speech. One point he underlined was that he was "Vice president to the first Black president and president to the first female vice president." You can read the full speech here.

Biden repeatedly took on Republican hecklers in the audience. Although he at times stumbled over his words—critics often ignore that Biden overcame a childhood stutter that causes this—he had no problem turning their boos and chants back against them. In fact, he seemed to enjoy doing it.

Here are some of the moments of note:

• Marjorie Taylor Greene’s big red MAGA hat, emblazoned “Trump 2020” on the back, a transparent effort at provocation that failed when it got a rise out of absolutely no one.

• Biden said, unlike all the people who don’t, that he would always tell the truth about January 6: “You can’t love your country only when you win.” He asked Congress to uphold their oaths and defend the country against all threats, foreign, and, Biden emphasized, “domestic.” Speaker Johnson pressed his lips together and looked mighty uncomfortable. I don’t think he enjoyed himself tonight.

• Republicans sat in place without reaction when Biden denounced Putin. Before Trump, I could not have envisioned a Republican Speaker of the House and rank and file who would sit stone-faced instead of standing and clapping for stopping Putin’s war.

• Biden practically dared Republicans to stay seated, which most of them did, when he called for a national guarantee for IVF in the wake of Alabama. You can already see the ads being run against Republicans who stayed seated.

• Biden turned to abortion rights, which are sure to be a key theme of the campaign, early. “Those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women” Biden said, suggesting the Dobbs decision will lead to Democratic victory in 2024. Biden promised to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land if voters elect a congress who will pass it.

• Biden stopped on his way in to speak with each of the Supreme Court Justices, liberal and conservative, who attended. Sam Alito did not. In 2010 Alito shook his head no and mouthed the words “not true” when President Obama took the rare step of directly criticizing the Court's decision in Citizens United. Presidents usually tread lightly where the Supreme Court is concerned, but Biden followed Obama’s lead, going off his prepared script as he was discussing the Supreme Court’s decision reversing Roe. He looked directly at the Justices, ad-libbing, “With all due respect, Justices, women are not without ... electoral or political power." He told them, "You’re about to realize just how much … ”

• Biden pointed out Republicans who were cheering the infrastructure bill Democrats bills passed without their support. He said it jokingly, but the point wasn’t lost on any of them: "if any of you don't want that money in your districts, just let me know." Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had a big smile in the audience.

• Biden’s optimism is infectious. “When America gets knocked down we get back up. That’s America.” By the end of his speech, I was feeling better. “It’s because of you we can say the state of our union is strong and getting stronger,” Biden said. The audience broke out in chants of “four more years.”

• Biden made the by-now standard call from Democrats—which never seems to go anywhere—to make the wealthy pay their share and increase taxes on billionaires. “No billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher, a sanitation worker, a nurse!” he said. When Republicans broke out in boos, Biden said something along the lines of: "Oh no? You guys don't want another $2 trillion tax cut? I kinda thought that's what your plan was. You're not gonna cut another $2 trillion for the superwealthy? That's good to hear!" Apparently, he’s not too old for this.

• Biden got in some jabs on immigration. He listed all of the things the failed bipartisan bill would do—important Republican priorities like processing cases more quickly, adding enforcement agents, and acquiring drug detection technology that would keep fentanyl from crossing the border. Republicans booed the bill, but Biden punched back. When they rejected his assessment of what the bill would accomplish he told them to “look at the facts.” Sen James Lankford, R-OK, the lead GOP negotiator on the bill nodded and said “true.” “We can fight about the border or we can fix it,” Biden said. “I’m ready to fix it. Send me the bill now.”

• Biden took on the war between Israel and Hamas directly. He spoke about Israeli hostages, acknowledged sexual violence, and promised to bring all of them home. Even Speaker Johnson, who didn’t stand for fighting Putin, stood and applauded here. Biden said Israel had a right to go after Hamas, and the conflict could be ended if they would release hostages. He acknowledged the difficulty of fighting an enemy that used civilians as shields. But he also said Israel had an obligation to protect civilians in Gaza, and that he was working non-stop on a ceasefire, predicated on releasing all hostages. Biden also committed to an "emergency" military mission to construct a port in the Mediterranean Sea on Gaza's coast to get humanitarian aid in. But he demanded that Israel do its part, ensuring aid and protecting aid workers. “Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority,” Biden said, calling for a two-state solution as the only path forward. There was plenty here for both sides to like and to dislike. Biden’s words here were simple and moving, and he seemed to do something no one else has successfully done in this dispute where so many people continue to suffer: calling for compromise and a real path forward that doesn’t give anyone everything they want but that accomplishes critical humanitarian goals on both sides.

Tonight, Biden led the charge and took the fight directly to Trump. His relish at responding to Republicans was evident. He repeatedly got the best of their outbreaks, which finally stopped altogether, as though they realized they could not best Biden.

Biden made jokes about his age, showing an utter lack of defensiveness. He pointed to the benefits of living through and understanding history. He explained that things became clearer at his age, saying, “My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy.” He spoke of honesty, decency, and respect for everyone. And in a jab at Trump he said, “Other people my age see it differently.” MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell commented after the speech, “I’ve never brought that much energy to the 10 pm hour.” O’Donnell hosts The Last Word during the 10 pm hour. Biden’s performance tonight should calm many of the concerns Democrats had about the incumbent’s ability to deliver during the campaign.

There’s a saying about the President: Let Biden be Biden. The State of the Union address proved how true it is. This was a solid, even epic speech. Biden hit all the right points in the right way. Now it’s up to us, the voters, to carry it home.

We’re in this together,

Joyce

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