President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address said that democracy and the US have been ‘bruised’ but remain ‘unbroken’.
Biden in his speech on Tuesday night referenced the January 6 Capitol riot and the country’s recovery from it.
‘Two years ago, democracy faced its greatest threat to the civil war, and today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken,’ said Biden.
It is his second State of the Union address and his first before a divided Congress. Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy gaveled the House to order and stood alongside Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who led a procession of senators into the House chamber.
Biden, wearing a suit and dark blue tie, arrived in the House chamber shortly after 9pm ET and smiled as he greeted lawmakers and made his way down the aisle.
The president shook hands with McCarthy and joked, ‘Speaker, I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you.’
Biden began his speech by touting the economy and the US’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden was set to offer a ‘unity’ agenda to work with Republicans and encourage bipartisan support on issues including boosting access to mental health care, ending smoking, helping veterans and curbing illegal drug use.
The other element of his speech was to contrast his agenda from the GOP’s, by calling for the rich to pay their share of taxes and pushing to guarantee protections to Medicare and Social Security.
‘I want to talk to the American people and let them know the state of affairs – what’s going on, what I’m looking forward to working on from this point on, what we’ve done,’ Biden said earlier on Tuesday.
Biden, 80, is the oldest US president to deliver a State of the Union speech.
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