President Joe Biden delivered the third State of the Union address of his presidency Thursday night, and it's no surprise it came with some criticism from his predecessor and likely 2024 general election opponent.
Former President Donald Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social to offer his live play-by-play commentary of the president's speech. Trump denounced it as "angry" and "crazy," often blasting President Biden's remarks on things like crime and the ongoing southern border crisis — a top issue on voters' minds heading into the 2024 presidential election.
"This was an angry, polarizing, and hate-filled Speech," Trump said. "He barely mentioned Immigration, or the Worst Border in the History of the World. He will never fix Immigration, nor does he want to. he wants our Country to be flooded with Migrants. Crime will raise to levels never seen before, and it is happening very quickly!"
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Trump also posted a video response to the speech, accusing President Biden of lying about his record on some of the issues that have him trailing Trump in various election polls.
"Joe Biden is on the run from his record and lying like crazy to try and escape accountability for the horrific devastation he and his party have created, all the while they continue the very policies that are causing this horror show to go," Trump said. "We can not take it any longer as a country."
The former president closed out his rant with a reference to his former show "The Apprentice," saying "it's time to tell crooked Joe Biden, you're fired."
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While President Biden did not mention Trump by name during his State of the Union address, he did refer to his "predecessor" nearly a dozen times during the hourlong speech. When speaking on immigration, President Biden was quick to call out Republicans — and Trump — for allegedly killing a bipartisan plan to help secure the southern border.
"I'm told my predecessor called Republicans in Congress and demanded they block the bill," the president said. "He [Trump] feels it would be a political win for me and a political loser for him. It’s not about him or me. It’d be a winner for America!"
At one point during the president's speech, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — a staunch Trump supporter who was wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat — heckled the president by shouting "say her name." Greene's comments were in reference to Laken Riley — a Georgia nursing student who was murdered by an undocumented immigrant less than two weeks ago.
President Biden's response drew criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike, first for stumbling over Riley's name and then again for a term he used to describe her alleged killer.
"Lincoln — Lincoln Riley," the president appeared to say. "An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That's right. But how many of the thousands of people being killed by legals? To her parents I say, my heart goes out to you having lost children myself. I understand."
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a progressive Democrat from Minnesota, responded to Biden's statement with a post on X that says, "Let me be clear: No human being is illegal."
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Nonetheless, despite his age of 81, President Biden appeared poised and alert throughout much of his speech, using the time to outline his vision for future governance and framing a second term as an alternative to the "political violence" under Trump.
"My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy," President Biden said. "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."
Trump is poised to be the Republican nominee for president now that former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has dropped out of the race, pitting him against President Biden in a rematch of the 2020 election — one that many Americans say they don't want. According to an AP-NORC poll, nearly 3 in 10 (28%) of those surveyed said they would be dissatisfied with both candidates being their respective party's nominee.
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