Biden's State of the Union didn't even come close to being the unifying moment he and many other Americans were hoping for. Some conservative pundits have gone as far as to call it the worst in history. What was supposed to be Biden's pitch for the general election in November has been labeled everything from angry to divisively partisan.
Political consultant Vlad Davidiuk spoke to KTRH after the speech, saying, "This was a direct appeal to the disenchanted, disillusioned base of the Democrat Party, not to the vast majority of Americans who are not better off than they were four years ago."
Biden opened the speech not by attempting to calm Americans' worries over the economy and inflation but by comparing Trump and his supporters to Vladimir Putin. He waited over an hour to mention the border crisis, which has been the number one concern for voters for the last several weeks, and only mentioned murdered nursing student Laken Riley after being pressured by Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene.
When he finally commented on the border, Biden attempted to shift all the blame onto former President Donald Trump. Trump responded on Truth Social, saying, "When I left office, we gave Biden the most secure border in U.S. history! We gave him 'remain in Mexico,' which was very tough to get, but I got it." Trump called Biden's policies on the border and their consequences a "horror show."
Texas Senator Ted Cruz also gave a response to Biden's address, saying, "Joe Biden reminded me of an angry old man standing on his porch, screaming at kids, 'Get off my lawn!'"