2024 State of the Union Address Megathread (3/7, 9PM EST)

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

So it's not just the Squad throwing a fit about Biden using the term "illegal." It's also people like Castro and Chuy. Seriously, wtf is wrong with them? Some immigrants are here illegally. There is nothing wrong with saying that.

https://twitter.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/1765969678956961875?t=-ic4SOCSMd4-Xgr...

To be fair, this was the one part of Biden's speech that seemed totally out-of-place.  The speech as a whole built a lot of confidence in his ability to run a campaign going forward, but the fact that one of his apparently most improvised moments was so awkward and gross is a little worrying.

What was gross? Accurately describing a criminal as the illegal he was?

It's gross that he's taking any bait from MTG. He should not be engaging this woman's agenda at all.

[Badger]

Biden: "Do you believe the tax code is fair?"

Crowd: "No!"

Biden: "Do you believe the rich pay their fair share?"

Crowd: "No!"

Biden: "I sure don't."

This is one of the strongest SOTU speeches I've ever seen. This is basically a campaign rally, and I love it. Biden has so much energy tonight.

The tax code is fair

Normally as soon as I stopped laughing at your typical naivete and utter indifference / ignorance to wealth and equality being both morally and economically bad, I would tell you to go outside and touch grass. However, I would rather beg you please, PLEASE run on that and try to give them American voters of your reality where the tax code is supposedly fair and not just screwing the middle class and working class.

A left wing economist posted this chart a few years back



source:https://mobile.twitter.com/amorygethin/status/1459159978342813702

So this excludes non contributory taxes such as for pensions, AKA Social Security? If you can't see how incredibly Cherry Picked this data is, plus completely ignoring the much much stronger social safety net is more heavily taxed European countries provide compared to america, well, you're a myopic out of touch republican. (shrug).

Cause they tax the poor and middle class significantly more . As usual all you have are outdated talking points

That's.. the point? Which once again you miss

[Badger]

It felt like the time I had to literally last minute fill in for a friend at a local beauty pageant

How nice to have you here in Atlas miss Priyanka Jonas-Chopra.

Yeahhh no.  I had no idea what I was doing; I was like a baby giraffe on stilts.  

That seriously sounds like a bad 80s sitcom episode script

[Horus]

So it's not just the Squad throwing a fit about Biden using the term "illegal." It's also people like Castro and Chuy. Seriously, wtf is wrong with them? Some immigrants are here illegally. There is nothing wrong with saying that.

https://twitter.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/1765969678956961875?t=-ic4SOCSMd4-Xgr...

To be fair, this was the one part of Biden's speech that seemed totally out-of-place.  The speech as a whole built a lot of confidence in his ability to run a campaign going forward, but the fact that one of his apparently most improvised moments was so awkward and gross is a little worrying.

What was gross? Accurately describing a criminal as the illegal he was?

It's gross that he's taking any bait from MTG. He should not be engaging this woman's agenda at all.

Nah he cooked her.

https://twitter.com/Blake_Allen13/status/1766107190811615615?t=6QminG0oJ0WxoEobZ...

[angus]

I thought it was a measured and appropriate response.  He's probably thinking many things, "OH, shut up, bitch.  Didn't Trump's lapdog Mike Johnson tell you to maintain yourself?!"  But he was as cool as a cucumber.  I'm not a huge fan of Biden, but I thought he handled that about as well as could be imagined.  "An illegal killed her.  Yeah, I know it.  And if you clowns had followed my legislative agenda, this would not have happened."  Suddenly he didn't seem like a frail octogenarian.  Good call, imho. 

[emailking]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

[wbrocks67]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

Good, figured as much. Knew it was more of just an accidental thing in the heat of the moment.e

[Farmlands]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

He obviously fully meant it then. Just forgot that's now a forbidden word among left-wingers in the US and that such things matter more than the fact that a woman was killed in those groups. Will go as well as Hillary and Obama refusing to use the phrase "Islamic terrorism" with everyone else.

[emailking]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

He obviously fully meant it then. Just forgot that's now a forbidden word among left-wingers in the US and that such things matter more than the fact that a woman was killed in those groups. Will go as well as Hillary and Obama refusing to use the phrase "Islamic terrorism" with everyone else.

He sounded pretty sincere.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It was a Great speech, Everytime Biden says Trump passed a 2T dollar tax cuts Trump responds we want to get crooked Joe out of here.

If Trump wins this country won't be united it will be divided and what can Trump really pass with a Filibuster S anyways. Ds are gonna continue to block like the Rs did Biden. Ds wantta get rid of the Filibuster

[Farmlands]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

He obviously fully meant it then. Just forgot that's now a forbidden word among left-wingers in the US and that such things matter more than the fact that a woman was killed in those groups. Will go as well as Hillary and Obama refusing to use the phrase "Islamic terrorism" with everyone else.

He sounded pretty sincere.

I'm sure it's as sincere as his newfound conviction that the Hyde Amendment is no longer good policy.

[emailking]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

He obviously fully meant it then. Just forgot that's now a forbidden word among left-wingers in the US and that such things matter more than the fact that a woman was killed in those groups. Will go as well as Hillary and Obama refusing to use the phrase "Islamic terrorism" with everyone else.

He sounded pretty sincere.

I'm sure it's as sincere as his newfound conviction that the Hyde Amendment is no longer good policy.

I haven't seen a video of that. For this I judged him to mean it was a misstatement or a slip, not that he fully meant it.

[Fuzzy Bear]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

Good, figured as much. Knew it was more of just an accidental thing in the heat of the moment.e

The term "Illegal Alien" keeps in front of American voters the fact that these people have broken the law by crashing our borders.  For people who crashed our borders after being previously deported, such as the brother of the accused killer, they commit felonies simply by re-entering the US.

Laken Riley's family have every right to their outrage, and they have every justification for directing that outrage at Joe Biden.  When people here begin to honestly care about the negligence and nonfeasance that allowed large numbers of criminal gang members cavalierly enter the US (as the Ibarra brothers, and how the Ibarra brothers did), I'll upgrade the labeling of Illegal Aliens to "Undocumented".  Meanwhile, my sympathies are with the family of the woman who obeyed the law and contributed to society whose life appears to have been taken by a person that did neither.

[GeorgiaModerate]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

Good, figured as much. Knew it was more of just an accidental thing in the heat of the moment.e

The term "Illegal Alien" keeps in front of American voters the fact that these people have broken the law by crashing our borders.  For people who crashed our borders after being previously deported, such as the brother of the accused killer, they commit felonies simply by re-entering the US.

Laken Riley's family have every right to their outrage, and they have every justification for directing that outrage at Joe Biden.  When people here begin to honestly care about the negligence and nonfeasance that allowed large numbers of criminal gang members cavalierly enter the US (as the Ibarra brothers, and how the Ibarra brothers did), I'll upgrade the labeling of Illegal Aliens to "Undocumented".  Meanwhile, my sympathies are with the family of the woman who obeyed the law and contributed to society whose life appears to have been taken by a person that did neither.

You do realize that it was Donald Trump who decided to stop the deportation of Venezuelans, as a political gift because they tended to support him?

With the clock winding down on his term, U.S. President Donald Trump shielded tens of thousands of Venezuelan migrants from deportation Tuesday night, rewarding Venezuelan exiles who have been among his most loyal supporters and who fear losing the same privileged access to the White House during the Biden administration.

Trump signed an executive order deferring for 18 months the removal of more than 145,000 Venezuelans who were at risk of being sent back to their crisis-wracked homeland. He cited the “deteriorative condition” within Venezuela that constitutes a national security threat as the basis for his decision.

https://apnews.com/general-news-international-news-88ba0f2a51b35bf8195e886d4210e5c3

[Fuzzy Bear]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

Good, figured as much. Knew it was more of just an accidental thing in the heat of the moment.e

The term "Illegal Alien" keeps in front of American voters the fact that these people have broken the law by crashing our borders.  For people who crashed our borders after being previously deported, such as the brother of the accused killer, they commit felonies simply by re-entering the US.

Laken Riley's family have every right to their outrage, and they have every justification for directing that outrage at Joe Biden.  When people here begin to honestly care about the negligence and nonfeasance that allowed large numbers of criminal gang members cavalierly enter the US (as the Ibarra brothers, and how the Ibarra brothers did), I'll upgrade the labeling of Illegal Aliens to "Undocumented".  Meanwhile, my sympathies are with the family of the woman who obeyed the law and contributed to society whose life appears to have been taken by a person that did neither.

You do realize that it was Donald Trump who decided to stop the deportation of Venezuelans, as a political gift because they tended to support him?

With the clock winding down on his term, U.S. President Donald Trump shielded tens of thousands of Venezuelan migrants from deportation Tuesday night, rewarding Venezuelan exiles who have been among his most loyal supporters and who fear losing the same privileged access to the White House during the Biden administration.

Trump signed an executive order deferring for 18 months the removal of more than 145,000 Venezuelans who were at risk of being sent back to their crisis-wracked homeland. He cited the “deteriorative condition” within Venezuela that constitutes a national security threat as the basis for his decision.

https://apnews.com/general-news-international-news-88ba0f2a51b35bf8195e886d4210e5c3

There were certainly persons from Venezuela fleeing Communism, as there have been from Cuba. 

The Ibarra brothers were not part of that throng.  They were criminal gang members, none of whom would be allowed in as asylum seekers.  They would not have been allowed entry into America under Trump because of their gang affiliations and criminal records. If they were asylum seekers, they would have had to remain in Mexico under Trump while the validity of their claims were examined.

[Landslide Lyndon]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

Good, figured as much. Knew it was more of just an accidental thing in the heat of the moment.e

But the CEASEFIRE NOW!!! crowd told me that Biden and the Democratic party are a bunch of bloodthirsty racists who see Palestinians and immigrants as subhumans and are taking great satisfaction watching them being killed.

[Horus]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

Really a shame that he caved. Just when I was starting to like the guy again...

[angus]

In an interview today that will air later, Biden said he shouldn't have used the term "illegal" referring to Riley's killer, said he should have said undocumented. Asked if he regrets using that term, he said yes.

Really a shame that he caved. Just when I was starting to like the guy again...

I guess someone advised him that the new-and-improved term is "undocumented".  Forget Phil Collins' 1983 song about "illegal aliens".  I'm old enough to remember when universities had an FSO (foreign students office).  Now it's always ISS (international students services).  I guess "foreign" sounds too foreign.  And "office" sounds too office?  Maybe?

Biden is much older than I am, so he probably has minions telling him what is acceptable now.  I think he takes it all in good faith.  He was on a roll Thursday night.  All major US news sources seem to agree, except Fox News.  And the foreign press seems to agree. 

I didn't vote for him in the primaries last time, nor in the general election, but he hasn't been as big a disaster as I thought he would be.  He still backs himself into unnecessary corners.  Gotta hire a black woman.  Need a blind, Jewish, wheelchair-bound guy for this position.  Etc.  Totally unnecessary and often hindering.  But overall he has managed not to trip over the rails.  And he hasn't yet entered us into the Third World War.  (But I suspect that it is coming, regardless of whom we elect.)

It's a weird universe when Democrats are demanding that Republicans vote for a military spending bill and where Republicans are demonizing immigrants.  It used to be that the Democrats were all about restricting Borders so union leaders could say that no migrants would steal their jobs, while Republicans were happy to let illegal ("undocumented") workers clean their mansions at sub-minimum wages, so long as they got their military spending bills passed.

Strange days indeed.  Still, I'd say it might be time to hold our noses and vote for Biden's reelection.  The alternative seems far worse.

[emailking]

Strange days indeed.  Still, I'd say it might be time to hold our noses and vote for Biden's reelection.  The alternative seems far worse.

It is of course right to vote for Biden, whatever justification works for you.

[Landslide Lyndon]

It's hilarious to see how some people who passionately supported Sanders in 2016 and 2020 are now clutching their pearls because Biden used the word "illegal" to describe an immigrant.
Did you guys ever read the immigration policies of your favorite candidate?

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

The Trump 2T dollar tax cut is worthless now, because we have a 34T dollar debit, we can invest in Green New Deal, changing Amtrak into Speed rail, pay for two wars and 30K in Reparations or 25K to blacks in reparations


The deficit is caused by 50M persons not paying back students loan

[Horus]

It's hilarious to see how some people who passionately supported Sanders in 2016 and 2020 are now clutching their pearls because Biden used the word "illegal" to describe an immigrant.
Did you guys ever read the immigration policies of your favorite candidate?

I supported Bernie and still love the guy. I also think Biden said nothing wrong here. Why do you always feel the need to attack the left for no reason?

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

When I saw that CNN flash poll giving Biden's speech lower ratings than last year, the first thing I wondered was whether the total numbers of viewers had increased and the speech was not as dominated by Democratic viewers as it as last year.

I don't know that the increase in viewers in fact meant that the viewership was more representative of the American public as a whole, but in fact, there was a fairly large increase in viewers.


Approximately 32 million people watched the State of the Union address live across 14 TV networks — 18% higher than last year’s 27 million, Nielsen reports.

Just 5% of viewers were ages 18-34 … 19% were 35-54 … 74% were 55+.

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

So it's not just the Squad throwing a fit about Biden using the term "illegal." It's also people like Castro and Chuy. Seriously, wtf is wrong with them? Some immigrants are here illegally. There is nothing wrong with saying that.

https://twitter.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/1765969678956961875?t=-ic4SOCSMd4-Xgr...

To be fair, this was the one part of Biden's speech that seemed totally out-of-place.  The speech as a whole built a lot of confidence in his ability to run a campaign going forward, but the fact that one of his apparently most improvised moments was so awkward and gross is a little worrying.

I don't know about Joaquin Castro, but Julian Castro in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary debates made it clear that he supported genuine 'open borders.'

I was pleased when Pete Buttigieg called him out on that 'if you don't support stopping people at the border, and you don't support deporting them after they're in the United States, you are supporting open borders.'

[wbrocks67]

Of those who reported reading, seeing, or hearing something about the speech, 44% found it to be better than they expected and 18% said it was worse than expected.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-trump-americans-trust-president-poll/story?id=107938351&cid=social_twitter_abcnp