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2024 State of the Union Address

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The 2024 State of the Union Address was given by the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, on March 7, 2024, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the House of Representatives to the 118th Congress.[1] On January 6, House Speaker Mike Johnson formally invited Biden to address the joint session of Congress. It took place two days after Super Tuesday. The speech was expected to provide Biden a chance to address issues such as the economy, democracy, abortion rights, the United States–Mexico border crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the Israel-Hamas War.[2]

2024 State of the Union Address
Full video of the speech as published by the White House
DateMarch 7, 2024 (2024-03-07)
Time9:00 p.m. (EST)
Duration1 hour, 7 minutes
VenueHouse Chamber, United States Capitol
LocationWashington, D.C.
Coordinates38°53′19.8″N 77°00′32.8″W / 38.888833°N 77.009111°W / 38.888833; -77.009111
TypeState of the Union Address
Participants
FootageC-SPAN
Previous2023 State of the Union Address
President Biden delivering the state of the Union address to the U.S. Congress

It was Biden's third and final State of the Union Address and his fourth and final speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, accompanied by Kamala Harris, the vice president, in her capacity as the president of the Senate.

This marked the first time in history that a U.S. president gave three consecutive official State of the Union addresses in front of three different speakers, namely 2022 with Nancy Pelosi, 2023 with Kevin McCarthy, and 2024 with Mike Johnson.

Address

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President Biden formally began his speech at 9:26 p.m. EST[3] on March 7, 2024; his speech was scheduled for 9 p.m. EST.[4] Like President Trump's 2019 State of the Union Address, Biden began the address without an introduction from the Speaker of the House, breaking with a SOTU custom. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona was named the designated survivor and was at an undisclosed location during the address so that, in case of a catastrophe, the continuity of government would be upheld.[5]

Topics

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Some of the topics mentioned by Biden included the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the border crisis, the Israel–Hamas war, gun crime, rescheduling cannabis, student loan debt, medication prices, and abortion.[6] He also mentioned the murder of Laken Riley the previous month before the speech in the context of border policy, and advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and also indirectly joked about his age.[7]

While Biden did not mention former President and 2024 Republican candidate Donald Trump by name, he referred to him as "my predecessor" 13 times during the speech,[8] including moments where he referenced Trump's praise of January 6 Capitol attack participants, and accused Trump of influencing Republican members of Congress to reject a bill intended to reduce incentives for migrants to attempt border crossings.[8]

In an apparent unscripted moment while referencing the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, Biden looked and spoke directly to the Supreme Court Justices seated in the audience, saying, "With all due respect, justices, women are not without ... electoral or political power... you're about to realize just how much..." before he was interrupted by audience applause.[9]

Protests

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Joe Biden holds a pin given out by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene reading "Say her name Laken Riley" in response to her interruptions and request

In the hours leading up to the speech, multiple pro-Palestinian groups led by Jewish Voice for Peace conducted demonstrations in the streets leading to the Capitol and blocked his motorcade.[10][11][12] The motorcade took an alternate route which did not approach protestors.[13]

Late in the speech, Steven Nikoui, who was attending the speech in the upper chamber, shouted repeatedly about the Abbey Gate bombing in the 2021 Kabul airport attack during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Nikoui was removed from the upper chamber and arrested.[7] Republican Representative Brian Mast reported that the heckling Nikoui was a Gold Star father who lost a child at the Abbey Gate bombing and attended the event as Mast's guest.[14]

During the speech, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene repeatedly interrupted Biden, particularly during his mentions of the Mexican border crisis. Biden responded by picking up a pin handed out by Greene which read "Say her name Laken Riley," and stated “Lincoln Riley, An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s right.” Biden mispronounced Laken's name, instead saying "Lincoln".[15] Greene would continue to interrupt Biden during the speech, often randomly.[16]

Responses

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Senator Katie Britt

Republican Senator Katie Britt gave the Republican response.[17] Republican Representative Monica De La Cruz gave a rebuttal in Spanish.[18] Former President Donald Trump scheduled a live "play by play" rebuttal of Biden's address on his Truth Social platform at the same time as the speech; the platform experienced widespread outages and glitches upon the start of the livestream.[19] The first Independent response was delivered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.[20] who also did a Spanish version of his response.[21]

Britt's speech, which primarily touched on the issue of immigration, received largely negative reviews, including from Republicans, and was criticized for its inaccuracy.[22][23][24] Stylistically, critics mostly focused on Britt's delivery, describing it as "dramatic", "creepy", "insincere"[25] and "over-the-top",[26] and questioned Britt's decision to stage the response in her kitchen.[27] Journalist Jonathan M. Katz accused her of misrepresenting the story of sex trafficking victim Karla Jacinto Romero. According to research by Katz, the crimes described by Britt occurred in Mexico during the presidency of George W. Bush.[28] Britt's response was the subject of that weekend's Saturday Night Live cold open with actress Scarlett Johansson portraying Britt.[29]

Reactions

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Some political commentators described the president's speech as "fiery"[30] and that it acted as a "sharp rebuke" against concerns about Biden's age and stamina.[31] Conservative commentators described the president's speech as being too aggressive and energetic.[32]

Some Democrats criticized Biden for referring to the killer of Laken Riley as "an illegal" instead of "undocumented" in his speech, and for mispronouncing her name as "Lincoln Riley".[33] Biden regretted using the word "illegal" and said that he should have instead used the word "undocumented".[34]

A fact-check by CNN found that while most of Biden's statements were accurate, some of his claims were false, misleading or needed context.[35]

Viewership

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The State of the Union drew 32.2 million viewers, an 18% increase over the 2023 address.[36] MSNBC was the only network to deliver higher viewership for the 2024 speech than for the 2022 speech.

Network Viewers
FNC 5,640,000
ABC 5,024,000
NBC 4,328,000
MSNBC 4,200,000
CBS 3,935,000
CNN 2,511,000
Fox 1,744,000
Fox Business 240,000
CNBC 112,000

  Broadcast networks   Cable news networks

Independent response coverage

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The Independent response was delivered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.[20] It received 25.4 million views in 48 hours.

Network Viewers
TikTok 10,800,000[37]
Twitter 10,300,000[38]
Instagram 3,000,000[39]
YouTube 1,000,000[40]
Facebook 346,000[41]
Rumble 29,000[42]

4-year average viewership

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Here are the viewership averages for the networks, covering the four years' worth of Biden addresses to congress. CNN is the only network in 2024 to finish below its address-to-congress average.

Network Viewers
FNC 5,115,000
ABC 4,939,000
NBC 4,088,000
CBS 3,949,000
MSNBC 3,941,000
CNN 3,233,000
Fox 1,722,000

Guests

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Activists

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Officers or veterans

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Politicians

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CEOs or presidents of organizations

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  • Barbara Collura: President and CEO of Resolve: The National Infertility Association who has also been invited in response to the decision made on LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine.
  • Shawn Fain: President of United Auto Workers, a union that went on strike in September 2023 following a contract disagreement that resulted in increased wages and return of cost of living adjustments, an end to two tiered employment system, improved overtime and retirement benefits, and a written contract right to strike over plant closures.
  • Natalie King: Founder and CEO of Detroit-based Dunamis Charge, the first-ever African American women-owned electric vehicle charger manufacturing company in the United States that has over 135 workers and is on track to manufacture 400,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2025.
  • Justin Phillips: Founder and CEO of Overdose Lifeline, a non-profit from Indiana dedicated to reducing the stigma of substance use disorder and preventing deaths resulting from opioid and fentanyl overdose. He helped sign Aaron's Law, which allows individuals to have access to Narcan to save people from overdosing.
  • Rashawn Spivey: Founder of Hero Plumbing in Milwaukee after graduating from a plumbing program at Milwaukee Area Technical College and completing an apprenticeship with Plumbers Local 75, which has been replacing lead water pipes.[45]
  • Liz Shuler: President of the AFL-CIO, who has already endorsed the 2024 Biden campaign.
  • Katherine Rowe: President of the College of William and Mary, as a guest of Representative Rob Wittman[46]

Private or miscellaneous people

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  • Kate Cox: A Dallas mother who traveled out of state after suing to have an abortion because of the Texas Heartbeat Act, which has outlawed all abortions since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.[47] Amanda Zurawski, who was in a situation nearly identical to Cox and is also suing the state to overturn the bans, returned to this year's event, having suffered sepsis and nearly died two years ago.[48]
  • Kayla Smith: An Idaho mother who moved her family to Washington in 2022 after she was unable to have an abortion due to abortion ban in Idaho following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.[49]
  • Caitlin Bernard: Doctor who provided an abortion in Indiana to a ten-year-old girl who was raped in Ohio in 2022 due to Ohio outlawing most cases for abortion following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.[50]
  • Elizabeth Jordan Carr: The first American to have been born via in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The invitation is in response to LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine where the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law on February 21.[51]
  • Latorya Beasley: An Alabama woman who was in the process of expanding her family with her husband through IVF until the decision made on LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine resulted in many IVF clinics in the state shutting down.
  • Families of the American Hostages in Israel
  • Intimaa Salama: Dentist and master's student at St. Louis University who has lost 35 members of her family in Gaza amid the Israel–Hamas war, which has seen nearly 40,000 people killed.
  • Ella and Mikhail Gershkovich: Parents of Evan Gershkovich, a journalist and reporter for the Wall Street Journal who has been detained in Russia since March 2023 on charges of espionage.[52]
  • Jason Riley and Allyson Phillips: Parents of Augusta University student Laken Riley who was murdered while jogging. The accused is Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan citizen who entered the United States illegally in 2022.
  • Gabriel Shipton: Brother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was arrested in London after being expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy in April 2019 and is currently facing extradition to the United States.
  • Dawn Chapman: A St. Louis mother and founder of Just Moms, an advocacy group for victims of radiation from nuclear contamination in Missouri who supports the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
  • Samantha Ervin-Upsher: Apprentice with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 432 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The city received a boost thanks to a program by the Biden administration that focused on bringing good jobs to the city.
  • Kris Blackley: Oncology nurse and the Director of Patient Navigation for the Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute in North Carolina which received a massive boost as a result of the Cancer Moonshot initiative.
  • Fat Joe: Rapper who has been fighting for price transparency in healthcare, as the cost of living increases in the United States.
  • Steven Hadfield: A North Carolina man who has a rare blood cancer and is a diabetic, which both required expensive drugs that are now covered by the Inflation Reduction Act.
  • Michael Knowles: Conservative political commentator and host of The Michael Knowles Show, which is part of The Daily Wire network.[53][54]
  • Keenan Jones: A public middle school educator from Minnesota wrote an email to President Biden thanking him for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which eliminated his remaining student loan debt after 10 years.
  • Maria Shriver: Author, journalist, former First Lady of California, and founder of the Women's Alzheimer's Movement and Strategic Advisor on Women's Health and Alzheimer's at Cleveland Clinic who worked with the Biden administration in 2023 to help create the first-ever White House Initiative on Women's Health Research.
  • Dawn Simms: Member of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1268 and third-generation autoworker on at Belvidere Assembly in Illinois. When the plant was idled, she was faced with moving or working away from her son, but the UAW helped reopen the plant.
  • Tiffany Zoeller: Military spouse and medical coder at Fort Liberty's Womack Army Medical Center who has been working with the Biden administration to help veterans and their families get good paying jobs after service.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Watson, Kathryn (January 7, 2024). "President Biden to deliver State of the Union address on March 7 - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2024.
  2. ^ Kanno-Youngs, Zolan (January 6, 2024). "Biden to Deliver State of the Union Address on March 7". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 22, 2024.
  3. ^ Homan, Tim (March 7, 2024). "Biden starts his speech - State of the Union 2024 live updates". NBC News. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  4. ^ Lebowitz, Megan (March 7, 2024). "Biden's motorcade arrives at the Capitol - State of the Union 2024 live updates". NBC News. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  5. ^ Linton, Carolina (March 7, 2024). "Who is the designated survivor for the 2024 State of the Union address tonight?". CBS News. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  6. ^ "State of the Union live updates: Joe Biden delivers fiery SOTU, ready to rumble with Trump". USA TODAY. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Hutzler, Alexandra; Axelrod, Tal; Deliso, Meredith; Sarnoff, Leah (March 7, 2024). "Santos arrives to Capitol for Biden's speech in surprise appearance". ABC News. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Miller, Zeke; Kim, Seung Min (March 8, 2024). "Biden uses feisty State of the Union to contrast with Trump, sell voters on a second term". Associated Press. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  9. ^ Korecki, Natasha (March 7, 2024). "Biden admonishes the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade". NBC News. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  10. ^ "State of the Union 2024: Protesters block Biden's path from White House to Capitol ahead of speech". washingtonexaminer.com. March 8, 2024.
  11. ^ "Gaza ceasefire protesters gather for Biden's State of the Union address". Yahoo News. March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  12. ^ Bernstein, Brittany (March 8, 2024). "Biden Arrives Late to State of the Union Address after Pro-Palestinian Protesters Block Motorcade's Path". National Review. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  13. ^ "Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate ahead of State of the Union". denver7.com. March 8, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Luke Barr (March 7, 2024). "Father of Marine killed in 2021 suicide bomb attack at Afghanistan's Kabul airport arrested at SOTU". ABC News. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  15. ^ "Joe Biden got Laken Riley's name wrong — as he has EVERYTHING in his border mess". New York Post. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  16. ^ Chris Cameron (March 7, 2024). "Biden Spars With Marjorie Taylor Greene About a Murder He Said Was Committed 'by an Illegal'". NYT. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  17. ^ "Alabama Sen. Katie Britt to deliver the GOP response to Biden's State of the Union address". NBC News. March 1, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  18. ^ Martinez, Joel (March 6, 2024). "State of the Union 2024: Who is Monica De La Cruz, the Texas Republican delivering the Spanish-language rebuttal?". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  19. ^ Dorn, Sara (March 7, 2024). "Trump's Truth Social Faces Major Glitches During State Of The Union". Forbes. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  20. ^ a b "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "State Of The Union" Address: 80% Of Americans Don't Want To Choose Between The Lesser Of Two Evils". RealClear Politics. March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  21. ^ "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Cómo Veo El Estado De Nuestra Unión". twitter (in Spanish). March 14, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  22. ^ Alfaro, Mariana; Wang, Amy B. (March 8, 2024). "In a rebuttal to Biden, Sen. Katie Britt says the world 'deserves better'". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  23. ^ "Katie Britt Claims People Mocking Her Deranged State of the Union Response "Can't Handle the Truth"". Vanity Fair. March 13, 2024. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  24. ^ Kessler, Glenn (March 11, 2024). "Analysis | Katie Britt's false linkage of a sex-trafficking case to Joe Biden". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  25. ^ Kilander, Gustaf; Bedigan, Mike (March 8, 2024). "'Dramatic,'creepy' and 'insincere': Republican Katie Britt's SOTU rebuttal is the butt of the joke". The Independent. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  26. ^ Kilgore, Ed (March 8, 2024). "Katie Britt's America Sounds Scary, But Not As Scary As Katie Britt". Intelligencer. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  27. ^ "Britt goes after 'dithering, diminished' Biden in State of the Union rebuttal". The Hill. March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  28. ^ Nestel, M.L. (March 8, 2024). "Journalist catches Sen. Katie Britt in an 'out and out lie' in her State of Union response". Raw Story. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  29. ^ Heching, Dan (March 10, 2024). "Scarlett Johansson plays Sen. Katie Britt in a satire of her SOTU rebuttal on 'SNL'". CNN. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  30. ^ Huppke, Rex (March 7, 2024). "Biden old and frail? Nope. President delivers fiery State of the Union his campaign needed". USA Today. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  31. ^ Elliott, Philip (March 8, 2024). "Biden Just Delivered a Top Career Performance. He Needed It". TIME. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  32. ^ Bickerton, James (March 8, 2024). "Republicans Complain Joe Biden Had Too Much Energy at SOTU". Newsweek. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  33. ^ Choi, Matthew; Govindarao, Sejal (March 7, 2024). "Texas Dems cringe at Biden calling migrant "an illegal" during State of the Union". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  34. ^ "Biden says he regrets using term 'illegal' to describe Laken Riley murder suspect". The Guardian. Associated Press. March 10, 2024. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  35. ^ "Fact checking Biden's State of the Union". CNN. March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  36. ^ Johnson, Ted (March 8, 2024). "Joe Biden's State Of The Union Address Draws 32.2 Million Viewers, Up 18% Over Last Year". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  37. ^ "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "State Of The Union" tiktok". TikTok. March 13, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  38. ^ "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "State Of The Union" twitter". Twitter. March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  39. ^ "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "State Of The Union" Instagram". Instagram. March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  40. ^ ""RFK Jr.: How I See The State Of Our Union" youtube". youtube. March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  41. ^ "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "State Of The Union" facebook". facebook. March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  42. ^ "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "State Of The Union" rumble". rumble. March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  43. ^ Ngo, Emily (March 6, 2024). "Hochul to attend SOTU as guest of Espaillat". Politico. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  44. ^ "Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to attend Biden State of the Union as Sen. Bill Hagerty's guest". The Tennessean. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  45. ^ "The White House Announces Guest List for the First Lady's Box for the 2024 State of the Union Address". March 7, 2024.
  46. ^ https://www.instagram.com/p/C4QhvwiAiwj/?igsh=djNpNmVhajVnODB4
  47. ^ Klibanoff, Eleanor (January 24, 2024). "Bidens invite Kate Cox, Dallas mom who sued to terminate pregnancy, to State of the Union address". The Texas Tribune.
  48. ^ "Democrats invite women affected by abortion and IVF rulings to Biden's State of the Union". NBC News. March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  49. ^ Savin, Naomi (March 5, 2024). "Senator Murray Announces State of the Union Guest: Kayla Smith, Former Idaho Resident Who Received Lifesaving Abortion Care in Seattle and Now Resides in Washington State". Senator Patty Murray. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  50. ^ Dwyer, Kayla; Robledo, Anthony (March 7, 2024). "What to know about abortion provider Dr. Caitlin Bernard, a guest at State of the Union". USA TODAY. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  51. ^ Vozzella, Laura (March 7, 2024). "Sen. Tim Kaine's State of the Union guest: America's first IVF baby". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  52. ^ "Here is the guest list for the State of the Union address". March 5, 2024.
  53. ^ "Super Tuesday Results Summarized in 3 Mins". YouTube. March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  54. ^ "OGLES ANNOUNCES 2024 STATE OF THE UNION GUEST | Representative Ogles". March 6, 2024.
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