Not only was January 6, Ukraine, and abortion a major focus for President Joe Biden during his first and possibly last State of the Union address of 2024, but former President Trump’s name was a large part of it too.
During Thursday night’s address, it didn’t take long for Biden to criticize Trump. In fact, it took just minutes into his SOTU speech for Biden to invoke the former president.
Despite not mentioning Trump by name, Biden referred to the 2024 GOP nominee several times as his “predecessor.”
After he began his speech urging Congress to hand over more aid to Ukraine, Biden claimed Trump has bowed down to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“My predecessor, a former Republican President, tells Putin, ‘Do whatever the hell you want,’” Biden said. “A former American President actually said that, bowing down to a Russian leader.”
Biden compared former President Reagan’s plea to then-President Gorbachev when he said in front of the Berlin Wall: “Tear down this wall.”
Biden then invoked Trump while he brought up the January 6 Capitol Hill protests that need to be put to bed.
“My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth of January 6th,” the president said. “I will not do that. This is a moment to speak the truth and bury the lies.”
Biden then told the crowd “You can’t love your country only when you win.” Yet, on the other hand, Biden’s comments are similar to when Democrats claim election fraud is only real when Republicans win. A few moments later, after Biden threatened the Supreme Court, the president invoked Trump on abortion rights related to Roe v. Wade.
