Tonight, Thursday, March 7th, is the State of the Union Address so lets keep everything related to it (including the Republican response) confined to this thread.
This is probably one of the most important speeches Biden can give this year. He has to come across as “Present”, not just “President”.
This will set the tone for the campaign the rest of the year and will be second only to the Democratic Convention speech in August for visibility.
Watch it live here:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2024/
Or through your favorite news source.
The Republican response will be delivered by Senator Katie Britt of Alabama:
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/07/1236338784/katie-britt-alabama-republican-biden-state-of-the-union
Very good speech!
Full transcript is here:
https://time.com/6898705/read-president-joe-bidens-2024-state-of-the-union-address-full-transcript/
Republican response from Katie Britt here:
I encourage you to watch the video and not just read the transcript. Reading it doesn’t carry just how breathless and borderline weepy her delivery is.
I’m seeing contradictory reporting, but the consensus is he’s a Gold Star Dad who lost his kid in the Afghani evacuation, and was arrested for the interruption.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/07/yelling-state-of-the-union-heckler-mentions-abbey-gate/72891395007/
“Remember Abbey Gate! US Marines!”
Abbey Gate is a reference to a 2021 suicide bombing during the evacuation of Afghanistan.
The protestor was handcuffed and arrested after being escorted out by security from the House gallery as seen in a photo shared with USA TODAY.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/08/us-news/heckler-who-shouted-at-biden-during-state-of-the-union-identified-as-gold-star-father/
“Abbey Gate!” Steve Nikoui yelled down at the president. “Second Battalion, First Marines!”
Capitol Police escorted Nikoui, 51, out of the chamber around 10:15 p.m. and took him into custody.
He was charged with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding Congress, a misdemeanor that typically results in the offender’s release after paying a $50 fine.
Nikoui’s son, Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, was killed by a suicide bomber outside Kabul’s international airport while trying to process evacuees from the Biden administration’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021.
So a grieving father being used by the republicans to Politicize his kids death…
Totally on brand.
I’m pretty sure the guy is more than happy to, even though Trump literally invited the people that blew up his son to Camp David and handed them Afghanistan.