President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address Tuesday night. He discussed the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, and police funding, with the intention of inspiring hope within the American people amidst rising foreign tensions and inflation.
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President Biden began his first State of the Union speech in support of the Ukrainian government and people, deeming Russian president Vladimir Putin’s plan to divide NATO unsuccessful. He announced that the United States would ban Russian airlines from American airspace, just as Canada and Europe did Sunday.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: We are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine. Putin is now isolated from the world more than ever. Together with our allies –we are right now enforcing powerful economic sanctions.
With levels of inflation continuously rising, Biden reassured struggling American families that he understands the difficulties they face on a daily basis. He talked about ways his administration will reduce the cost of living pressures in the current economy.
BIDEN: Our economy grew at a rate of 5.7% last year, the strongest growth in nearly 40 years, the first step in bringing fundamental change to an economy that hasn’t worked for the working people of this nation for too long.
Biden received the biggest applause of the night when he said that dismantling the police was not in the cards for his administration.
BIDEN: We should all agree: The answer is not to Defund the police. The answer is to FUND the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.
Bob Shrum, the director of the Center for the Political Future at USC, believes Biden’s refusal to defund the police was a way for him to please both Democrats and Republicans. According to FiveThirtyEight’s latest polling, Biden has just a 41.5% approval rating. According to Shrum, this is exactly why the president smartly catered to both parties.
SHRUM: So what he did was basically put the law and order fear together with the police reform concern. Will that satisfy everybody, will it satisfy the people who want to defund the police? No, but I think it was exactly the right thing to do.
Shrum believes Biden used the address as a way to talk directly and plainly to the American people about the crises on the horizon. He says it was a good attempt to motivate a population that has been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years.
SHRUM: It wasn’t complacent. It didn’t say everything is fine, but it said, here’s what we want to do about the problems that we have. We’ve made progress, but it’s not enough. We have to do more.
Biden hopes that his State of the Union address can change the lackluster perception of his presidency and give new life to his administration.