Photo: Mandel Ngan Agence France-Presse Joe Biden during his State of the Union address
Aurélia End – Agence France-Presse and Inès Bel Aiba – Agence France-Presse in Washington
March 8, 2024
- United States
He promises to embody “optimism” against the “rancor” of Donald Trump, “moral force” against the “hate” fueled by the Republican: Thursday before Congress, Joe Biden attacked his rival with rare ferocity.
During his more than hour-long State of the Union speech, the 81-year-old Democrat mentioned his “predecessor” 13 times, whom he is almost guaranteed to face again in the November presidential election.
Without ever naming him, he particularly accused the 77-year-old Republican of “submitting” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and “endangering” American democracy.
Donald Trump, who increased his inflammatory statements during his campaign, denounced, on his Truth social network, an “angry, divisive and hateful speech”.
Responding with animation and even with relish to the invectives of a few Trumpist elected officials, Joe Biden may also have calmed, for a time, the persistent doubts of voters about his physical and mental endurance.
“Four more years! »
“At my age, some things become clearer than ever,” he said, promising to stand up for “honesty, moral strength, dignity, equality.”
“And now someone my age is telling another story, that of an America turned towards resentment, revenge and revenge,” said the president, whose speech was punctuated by ovations and the “Four years older! Four more years! » elected officials from his camp.
Donald Trump, surrounded by legal proceedings, has promised several times to take “revenge”, he who never admitted his defeat in 2020.
In the face of Republican “decline” rhetoric, Joe Biden boasted of having presided over the “greatest rebound” America has seen, after a COVID-19 pandemic that had brought the world's largest economy to its knees.
This outlines “a future full of promise”, according to the American president.
“The question for our country is not our age, it’s the age of our ideas. Hate, anger, revenge, grudges are the oldest ideas there is,” he proclaimed.
Economy and IVG
He pledged never to “demonize” migrants like his predecessor, and praised American economic prosperity, “the envy of the entire world.”
Joe Biden criticized Donald Trump's proximity to the NRA, the powerful gun lobby, while he for his part wants to ban semi-automatic rifles.
He promised to “restore” nationwide protection of the right to abortion, dynamited by the ultra-conservative Supreme Court reconstituted by the Republican, and to tax multinationals and billionaires more.
All these promises imply not only winning the presidential election, but also regaining, and largely, control of Congress during the legislative elections that accompany it.
When it comes to foreign policy, Joe Biden also wanted to distinguish himself from his “predecessor”.
Putin and Gaza
Donald Trump “told Putin “do what you want.” That's a quote, a former president actually said that, submitting to a Russian leader. I think it's scandalous. This is dangerous, and it is unacceptable! », condemned the democrat, assuring that he would “never bend”.
Concerning the war in Gaza, the American president spoke, at greater length than he had ever done before, of the suffering of Palestinian civilians.
He warned Israel that humanitarian aid “cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip.”
To reach the Capitol, the American president took an extended route, to avoid groups of demonstrators demanding a ceasefire.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump crushed all competition in the primaries. American voters, who have little desire to do so, will have to choose between one and the other on November 5, unless there is a general surprise.
If the Democrat stumbles on the question of his age, his rival must juggle a busy legal schedule: no less than four criminal charges.