When presidents come before Congress to deliver the State of the Union address, it’s usually to offer a unifying vision of America to a deeply divided group of people. Joe Biden gave a speech Thursday night to show how big those divides actually are — and to take advantage of them.
It’s not that everything in his State of the Union speech was explicitly partisan: Biden urged Republican lawmakers to defend democracy at home and abroad, even quoting Ronald Reagan at one point. But just applauding for an unapologetic defense of democracy is awkward for much of today’s Republican Party — starting with de facto GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Throughout the speech, House Speaker Mike Johnson — seated behind Biden and painfully aware of just how divided his conference is — tried to represent all things to all Republicans. He offered nearly imperceptible head nods during the president’s remarks about NATO, firm but cautiously not-too-enthusiastic applause for defending Ukraine and an undisguised eye roll when Biden lamented the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Moments later, Johnson clapped when Biden urged members: “You can’t love your country only when you win.”