81-year-old Joe Biden gave his all in the night’s speech to the nation. He was spontaneous, energetic and made fun of his own advanced age. – I know it doesn’t look like it, but I’ve been here a long time, joked Biden. He defended the right to abortion, support for Ukraine and NATO, and went straight for the throat of his predecessor and rival, Republican Donald Trump Biden chooses the hammer over the olive branch, writes Politico, which focuses on the president’s aggressive tone. Others describe Biden as forceful, persistent, aggressive, lively and courageous. Those are not words that are often used to describe America’s oldest ever president. It was absolutely crucial for Biden to appear to be working, quite simply. He did. After 68 minutes of energetic speech, we are left with four main points. Democrats Cori Bush and Summer Lee protested the war during their speech in Congress. Photo: Evelyn Hockstein / Reuters In Trump’s throat Biden never mentioned Donald Trump by name, but spoke often and directly about the threat his “predecessor” (mentioned 13 times) poses both to American democracy and to the world. – My predecessor said to Putin: Do whatever the hell you want. He actually said that. It’s scandalous. It is dangerous. It is unacceptable. CNN describes the speech as one of the most political in recent times. The president’s speeches to the nation are never apolitical. But they bear the stamp of celebration and seriousness, it’s about people and nation and not political knifing. This year it is different. The speech also reflects that it is an extraordinary time in American politics. Donald Trump has been the one who has broken down political norms and traditions in recent years. For many – and for Joe Biden – democracy itself is at stake. He called Donald Trump’s lies about the election results in 2020 the biggest threat to America’s democracy since the Civil War in 1861 to 1865. – Not since Lincoln and the Civil War has freedom and democracy been under attack here at home in the way that it is today, said Biden. Donald Trump Photo: AP Abortion becomes important Joe Biden promised to reinstate American women’s right to abortion, a right they lost in 2022. There is a majority for the self-determined right to abortion among American voters, and the Democrats hope this will be an important part of the election campaign. Biden singled out the right to abortion as one of the freedoms threatened under Trump. – If the Americans give me a Congress that supports the right to choose, I promise you, I will reinstate Roe v Wade as law again, Biden promised. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse loudly cheered for Biden during the night’s speech. Photo: Shawn Thew / AP Must deal with immigration One of the most important themes of the election campaign is immigration. Recently, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump were at the border with Mexico. There was great excitement about how Biden would cope with being interrupted during the long speech. He was. When he talked about the Mexico border, far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene called him out. Marjorie Taylor Greene interrupted Biden during his address to the nation both last year and this year. Photo: Shawn Thew / AP Republicans have long talked about violence by undocumented immigrants and recently a young woman – Laken Riley – was killed by an undocumented Venezuelan man. Biden held up a button with her name and promised faster processing. – Laken Riley was an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal, said Biden. Strong support for NATO Joe Biden marked his distance from Trump – and support for the defense alliance NATO. The guest of honor at the Congress yesterday was Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, NATO’s newest member. He sat next to first lady Jill Biden and received a standing ovation when Biden welcomed him and Sweden as a member. “NATO is stronger than ever,” Biden said. Biden also appeared stronger than in a long time. Or at least more energetic. Then the question is whether it provides enough energy in a long and challenging election campaign for the United States’ oldest president.
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Biden did what he had to – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
