A highlight of American political life, the State of the Union speech takes on particular significance this year: Joe Biden will try on Thursday, before Congress, to give momentum to his campaign against Donald Trump.
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The 81-year-old Democrat, faced with Americans who, according to polls, doubt his ability to hold a second term, knows that on Thursday evening, what he says will matter less than how he says it.
Will he stammer? Will he stumble? Will he mix up names or dates during a speech that typically lasts more than an hour?
Before entering the stage in front of millions of viewers, Joe Biden pretended to take advice by videoconference from actors who have taken on his role in cinema or on television.
“Tell us how you work for us, and how you give us hope,” advised Morgan Freeman, president confronted with a meteorite that threatens to destroy the Earth in the film “Deep Impact” (1998).
- Listen to the American political column with Professor Luc Laliberté via QUB :
Gaza and NATO
The White House has begun to distill the president’s main messages on the economy and foreign policy.
Joe Biden will thus announce to Congress that he has ordered the American army to establish a port in Gaza to transport more humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory, at a time when his policy of firm support for Israel is arousing the anger of the Muslim electorate and those of Arab origin.
He also invited Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to come and listen to him, the day his country formally joined NATO.
The objective is of course to distinguish himself from Donald Trump. The Republican said he would “encourage” Russia to attack the countries of the defense alliance if they did not pay their share.
The former president planned to “correct” his rival’s comments live. He accused his rival on Thursday of having transformed the United States into a “horror film”, and demanded to debate with him, without waiting for the nomination conventions of the two parties to be held this summer.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump crushed all competition in the primaries, and are therefore heading straight, barring unforeseen events, towards a duel during the presidential election on November 5, as in 2020.
“Mister Speaker”
At 9:00 p.m. local time (01:00 GMT Friday) at the Capitol, the head of protocol of the House of Representatives will proclaim the ritual formula addressed to the head of this institution: “Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States!”
But it is as a candidate that Joe Biden will advance between the spans, and it is a campaign speech that he will deliver.
- Listen to the interview with Rémi Landry, retired lieutenant-colonel and professor at the University of Sherbrooke, via QUB :
The president believes he has “done more in three years than most other presidents in eight” in economic matters.
He presents himself as a middle-class candidate against “greedy” companies and big fortunes who do not pay “their fair share” of taxes.
The president will therefore commit to taxing multinationals and billionaires more – which means winning not only the White House in November, but also regaining control of Congress.
“Decline”
On all levels, Joe Biden will want to distinguish himself from Donald Trump, portrayed as a supporter of the rich, a threat to abortion rights, and a danger to democracy.
The former president, surrounded by legal proceedings, promises to “avenge” the defeat of 2020, which he never recognized.
So far, nothing seems to dampen the fervor he arouses among his supporters. Its hold on the Republican Party has only grown, despite often disappointing results from its candidates in local elections, and despite the threat of criminal conviction.
The head of the House of Representatives, the very conservative Mike Johnson, published a message on Thursday embracing the rhetoric of the “decline” of America dear to Donald Trump.
A one-minute-and-a-half video montage, set to distressing music, claims that illegal immigration, crime, drug trafficking, inflation and international unrest are out of control, thanks to Joe Biden.
