Biden Talks About His Obsessions, Not What Americans Care About In SOTU

Typically, most people tune into the State of the Union for the first 15 to 20 minutes, which is why presidents tend to lead their big speech on the issues that the public cares about the most. 

Joe Biden however, took a different tactic. He decided to just ramble about the obsessions of Democrats. 

Walking in 25 minutes late, the president focused on the war in Ukraine and the January 6 Capitol riot. It wasn’t until an hour past the scheduled time that he addressed issues related to his age or the southern border crisis.

“If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not,” the 81-year-old began. “But Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself. That is all Ukraine is asking. They are not asking for American soldiers.”

“In fact, there are no American soldiers at war in Ukraine. And I am determined to keep it that way. But now assistance for Ukraine is being blocked by those who want us to walk away from our leadership in the world,” he continued.

After stressing his message to Putin and making a pitch for more Ukraine aid, Biden pivoted to another topic that occurred nearly three and a half years ago: the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The president never addressed former President Donald Trump by name, rather referring to him as his predecessor, wrote The Daily Caller.

“January 6th and the lies about the 2020 election, and the plots to steal the election, posed the gravest threat to our democracy since the Civil War,” Biden said. “But they failed. America stood strong and democracy prevailed. But we must be honest the threat remains and democracy must be defended.”

Statistically we know that most people don't watch most of the SOTU. Mostly the first 15-30 minutes. Which means tens of millions tuning in will hear about Ukraine and Jan 6th

Truly unreal

— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) March 8, 2024

Biden was recently criticized by David Axelrod, among others, for his singular obsession with “defending democracy,” and it’s clear that issues facing ordinary Americans do not register with the White House. 

Pew Research recently reported that “nearly three-quarters of Americans (73%) say strengthening the economy should be a top priority for Biden and Congress this year, according to a Center survey conducted in January. Of the 20 policy goals we asked about, no other issue stands out – as has been the case for the past two years.

This assessment comes amid ongoing worries about high prices. Majorities of U.S. adults say they are very concerned about the price of food and consumer goods (72%) and the cost of housing (64%).

Despite these sharply different assessments, majorities of both Democrats (63%) and Republicans (84%) say strengthening the economy should be a top policy goal this year. These shares are largely unchanged since last year.”

[Read More: Dems Nervous About Biden’s State of the Union]