State of the Union 2024: Trump offers lukewarm, glitchy response to Biden speech
- Joe Biden used his State of the Union to contrast with Donald Trump, sell voters on a second term
- Trump posted a running commentary on social media with jabs about Biden’s coughing and hair
Trump’s heavily-promoted live “play-by-play” response to an extended barrage of criticism turned out to be a damp squib -beset by technical gremlins and Trump’s odd reluctance to hit back with the same passion.
In his final address before his anticipated November rematch with Trump, the president mentioned “my predecessor” 13 times – dinging the Republican on his anti-Nato statements and campaign of false election fraud claims that inspired the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol.
“My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6. I will not do that,” Biden thundered.
“This is a moment to speak the truth and to bury the lies. Here’s the simple truth: You can’t love your country only when you win.”
He assailed Trump for encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack Nato nations that don’t meet their financial obligations and the former president’s apologism over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.