State of the Union Address | Joe Biden launches a frontal attack against Donald Trump

(Washington) An offensive Joe Biden attacked his rival Donald Trump in the first minutes of his major State of the Union speech Thursday evening, accusing him of “submitting” to Vladimir Putin and asserting that freedom and democracy were “under attack” in America.

In the imposing hemicycle of Congress, to the acclamations of his standing camp and while the Republican opposition remained seated, the 81-year-old Democrat, candidate for re-election, assured that he would never “bow” to the Russian president.

“My predecessor, a former Republican president, 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! “, he said, without pronouncing the name of Donald Trump.

“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have our freedom and democracy been under attack in our country as they are today,” he added.

The president wanted to design “a future based on the fundamental values ​​that define America: honesty, moral strength, dignity, equality”.

“And now someone of my age is telling another story, that of an America turned towards resentment, vengeance and revenge,” he added in a clear allusion to his 77-year-old rival.

Donald Trump has promised to take “revenge” for his 2020 defeat, which he never acknowledged, and for the legal proceedings that are piling up against him.

The former president planned to “correct” his rival’s comments live. He accused the Democrat on Thursday of having transformed the United States into a “horror film” and demanded a debate with him.

Biggest bounce

Faced with the rhetoric of “decline” chanted by Donald Trump, Joe Biden assured that America was experiencing “the greatest rebound” in its history under his presidency, after the COVID-19 pandemic which had brought the leading economy to its knees. worldwide.

“I inherited an economy that was on the brink of collapse. Now our economy is literally the envy of the entire world. 15 million jobs have been created in three years, it’s a record. And the unemployment rate is the lowest in 50 years,” he said.

This outlines “a future full of promise”, according to Joe Biden, determined to play the optimism card against his rival.

Intending to resolutely mark the difference with the latter, he also swore that he would not “demonize[t] not » migrants.

The president also castigated the cancellation of the federal guarantee of abortion, one of the major themes of the campaign, promising to “restore” this protection if Americans elect a Congress favorable to the “right to choose”.

« Clairement, ceux qui se vantent d’avoir [annulé la protection fédérale du droit à l’avortement par la Cour suprême] have no idea of ​​the power of women in America,” he said.

“But they realized it when the freedom to dispose of one’s body was at stake at the ballot box and won in 2022 and 2023, and they will realize it again in 2024,” added this Catholic who wants to defend the right to abortion.

In terms of form, Joe Biden showed himself to be combative, at a time when concerns and criticism about his age continue to rise.

In the traditional opposition response to the presidential speech, Republican Senator Katie Britt must, according to extracts, attack Joe Biden on his abilities. “Our commander in chief is not in charge. The free world deserves better than a hesitant and diminished leader,” she must insist.

Joe Biden also announced to Congress that he had ordered the US military to establish an artificial port in Gaza to deliver more humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory, and said he wanted a “ceasefire immediate” of six weeks.

Barely an hour before the president’s speech, the war in Gaza came to Washington: demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags gathered near the White House while others blocked an avenue leading to the Capitol.

Joe Biden’s convoy took a route that avoided groups of protesters.