Joe Biden delivers fiery State of the Union address

Donald Trump’s reply to the State of the Union address didn’t go as planned, as Joe Biden lashed him about abortion, gun control and the Capitol attack.

US President Joe Biden delivered a thunderous State of the Union address in a bid to revive his reelection campaign, sparring with heckling Republicans and jabbing at his rival Donald Trump.

In perhaps the most important speech of his career, the 81-year-old sought to reassure voters worried about his age and convince them he would protect their freedoms and improve their household budgets if he defeated the former president in November.

At the start of their eight-month rematch, Mr Biden did not name Mr Trump, but he repeatedly criticised “my predecessor” for threatening to abandon America’s NATO allies, stoking the January 6 insurrection and overturning the constitutional right to abortion.

Mr Trump had promised to deliver a play-by-play rebuttal on his social media platform but it embarrassingly crashed at stages during Mr Biden’s hour-long speech.

US President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington DC. Picture: AFP

When Truth Social was online, Mr Trump said Mr Biden “looks so angry when he’s talking, which is a trait of people who know they are ‘losing it’”.

The oldest president in history acknowledged he had “been around a while” but said that meant “certain things become clearer than ever before”, as he mostly avoided the verbal flubs that have cruelled his approval ratings.

“In my career I’ve been told I’m too young and I’m too old. Whether young or old, I’ve always known what endures,” Mr Biden said.

“The very idea of America, that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.”

“The issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are, it’s how old our ideas are. Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among the oldest of ideas.”

Joe Biden spoke about his age and Donald Trump’s record during the address. Picture: AFP

In the night’s most memorable moment, the President jousted with Republican Majorie Taylor Greene, who had confronted Mr Biden before he took the stage by handing him a badge in honour of Laken Riley, a student who was allegedly murdered by a migrant who illegally entered the US.

When he made the case for bipartisan border reforms, Ms Taylor Greene yelled at him to “say her name”. Mr Biden did – although he mispronounced her first name as “Lincoln” – and said she was “an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal”.

Republican Representative from Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene shouts at President Biden during his address. Picture: AFP

Former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform crashed during the State of the Union. Picture: AFP

Restoring the right to abortion was also a centrepiece of Mr Biden’s speech, as he rebuked the Supreme Court for overturning the landmark Roe V. Wade decision.

Six of the court’s nine justices sat motionless as Mr Biden repeated a line in their judgement that “women are not without electoral or political power”.

“No kidding,” he said, pointing out that the issue drove Democratic victories over the past two years before adding: “We’ll win again in 2024.”

He renewed calls for a ban on assault weapons, pushed for a 25 per cent tax rate on billionaires he said would raise $US500 billon (A$754bn) over a decade, and expanded his cost of living battle plan with housing tax credits and a crackdown on “shrinkflation”.

US President Joe Biden arrives to deliver the State of the Union address in the House Chamber. Picture: AFP

On foreign policy, Mr Biden ordered the US military to build a temporary port on the Gaza coastline to deliver humanitarian aid, while he continued to push for a six-week ceasefire.

The President also reinforced the importance of Congress delivering $US60bn (A$90bn) worth of military equipment to Ukraine, warning Russian President Vladimir Putin was “on the march” and would not stop.

He told the dictator: “We will not walk away. We will not bow down. I will not bow down.”

In describing what he said was “an unprecedented moment in the history of the union”, Mr Biden said freedom and democracy were “under assault” in the US and overseas, as he blasted Mr Trump for telling Russia to “do whatever the hell you want” to NATO allies.

He linked that to Mr Trump’s support for the January 6 insurrectionists who “held a dagger to the throat of American democracy”, as he criticised those who “seek to bury the truth” of the deadly riot in the Capitol building where he delivered his speech.

President Joe Biden takes a selfie as he departs after delivering his third State of the Union address. Picture: AFP

“Here’s the simple truth: you can’t love your country only when you win,” Mr Biden said.

Among the guests who watched the speech with First Lady Jill Biden were Sweden’s prime minister, hours after the country joined NATO, as well as a Texas mother who had to travel out of the state for an abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Julian Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton was also in the crowd as part of his campaign to urge the Biden administration to end the criminal prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder.

ANALYSIS

It would have been tempting for Joe Biden to play it safe.

But the oldest president in history did not have that luxury in delivering what could have been his last State of the Union address.

The 81-year-old is trailing Donald Trump in the polls, in large part because most Americans are not convinced he is mentally up to the job now, let alone for another four years.

So before a prime time TV audience of tens of millions of people, and with his opponents ready to make any gaffe go viral among those who were not tuned in, Biden let rip.

He was loud and loose, feisty and fiery. He didn’t stick to his carefully crafted speech. In fact, he deliberately swerved off it to pick fights with his heckling Republican opponents.

Mr Biden strayed from his scripted remarks as he gave his address to Congress. Picture: AFP

Sometimes he stumbled, and he coughed a lot, the result of one of his occasional bouts of acid reflux. For the most part, however, Biden’s strategy worked.

He reminded voters of the failures of his predecessor and outlined his own successes in the kind of populist plain language that had him pegged for the presidency from the start of his political career half a century ago.

Biden was not going to win the election on Thursday night (local time), not with a gruelling eight-month campaign before Americans go to the polls. But he could have fallen further down the hole he has dug himself. Instead, he started the long climb back out.

Biden looked presidential – and Trump was left shouting into the void as his social media platform crashed.

Originally published as Joe Biden delivers fiery State of the Union address