President Joe Biden will draw distinctions between himself and President Donald Trump during his 2024 State of the Union address, while drawing parallels between their respective ages.
“My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy,” Biden, 81, will say Thursday, according to excerpts of his remarks as prepared for delivery provided by the White House. “A future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor.”
“Now, some other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me,” he will add of Trump, 77.
While Biden is expected to use his State of the Union to defend his administration’s first term as he prepares to ask the public to support him for a second, he is under pressure from Democrats to also demonstrate he is physically and mentally ready to be president for another four years.
Aside from Trump, who after Super Tuesday this week took one step closer to becoming the 2024 Republican presumptive nominee, abortion access is similarly poised to be a prominent talking point for Biden, a message punctuated by the people invited to watch the address from first lady Jill Biden‘s box in the House of Representatives’s chamber.
“In its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court majority wrote, ‘Women are not without electoral or political power,’” Biden will say. “No kidding. Clearly, those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America. But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and won in 2022, 2023, and they will find out again in 2024.
“If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again,” he will continue.
Biden will deliver his State of the Union address, described even by White House chief of staff Jeff Zients as a “particularly big moment,” as Trump averages a three percentage point lead in polls when third-party and independent candidates are considered. Part of that takes into account the public’s perception of the economy, another topic the president will broach during his speech.
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“I came to office determined to get us through one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history,” Biden will say. “And we have. It doesn’t make the news, but in thousands of cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told. So let’s tell that story here and now. America’s comeback is building a future of American possibilities, building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up — not the top down, investing in all of America — in all Americans — to make sure everyone has a fair shot and we leave no one behind.”
The White House previewed earlier Thursday that Biden would announce during the State of the Union he is ordering the U.S. military to construct a temporary seaport in Gaza, creating another entry point for humanitarian aid amid the Israel–Hamas war.