Twenty minutes after he finished his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Joe Biden was still shaking hands in the double doors of the House of Representatives chamber, even though many members had already left, much of the room had already evacuated and Speaker Kevin McCarthy had called overnight.
On television, commentators and pundits were up in arms with their version of what had just happened, followed soon after by a quick CNN poll of what viewers thought.
What was clear was that “the moment” of Biden’s speech were exchanges with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and other members who called him a “liar” blasted the president’s claims that some GOPers tried to delete social media. Safety and Medicare. Instead of moving forward, the President engaged them and quickly followed with his own return. Finally, members of both parties stood up and applauded a pledge not to overturn the entitlement programs.
It was great theater – in and out of space – and exactly the kind of rawness that’s reasonably expected in the relentless cycles of polarized politics.
When President Barack Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress was interrupted nearly 14 years ago by Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-SC) exclamation of “you’re lying,” there was an uproar over the breach of decency, and the congressman quickly apologized.
There were a few moments during Biden’s speech on Tuesday and certainly no excuses.
“Well, it’s the house. The house is a little grumpy, but I thought it was good,” Representative Ryan Zinke (R-MT) said in an interview afterward.
Representative Kat Cammack (R-FL) insisted the breaks weren’t even “inconvenient.”
She said Biden’s comments about Social Security and Medicare were “completely unfounded” and “we will not let it stand.”
“I thought it was very important that we talk about it together and let him know that we will not tolerate the government’s lies, especially when we know that this is the scaremongering that has been going on for the last few years. ,” she said. “So I wouldn’t call it harassment.
Yet the interruptions affected not only that topic, but also other moments of the speech, such as when Biden talked about non-compete clauses (“That’s not true”) and when he addressed the fentanyl crisis (“It’s your fault”). .
The House is still tame compared to the rudeness of the British Parliament, as it still embraces the rules of propriety. But the Trump years brought reality show stunts to SOTU, followed by a speech-making response from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelose. More recently, the theatricality of last month’s speakers’ voices showed that the lofty traditions of the past were overshadowed by the drama on the floor. Members are becoming increasingly aware that the event space is being transformed into a television studio’s fishbowl. Tuesday night, with the hot lights on, cameras caught some genuine reactions and more than a few instances of performative outrage, to use 2023 phrases.
Unlike most house meetings, where cameras are stationary and controlled by the government, special events allow media. For the State of the Union, Fox served as the pool network, and the setup included not only cameras placed around the rectangular room, but also a tree in one corner that gave viewers a good view of the members. Efforts are being made to provide the media with such access on a regular basis, and it should come as no surprise that one of his advocates, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), thrives on media attention.
Meanwhile, many members of the State of the Union did their best to stand out and give the word a peacock tone.
In contrast to some years of Covid, members, led by Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), dressed colorfully and wore a bright yellow cap-sleeve dress, while Greene appeared in a fur-collared coat as if arriving from Duesenberg and about would walk the street red carpet.
As usual, some members came early to position themselves in the corridor, better to shake hands with Biden and watch the live recording. Among those at the chosen location were Rep. George Santos (R-NY), in a tangerine tie, who is under constant scrutiny in what appears to be an ethics investigation to fabricate his background. Although Santos did not end up shaking hands with Biden, he did play a prominent reporting role as reports circulated about a conversation he had with Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) on the floor. “If he was embarrassed, he wouldn’t be here,” Romney later told reporters, referring not only to Santos’ prominent “parade” on the floor, but also to his presence in Congress.
Oddly enough, the moments on the floor seemed to overshadow the real superstar in the room, Bono, one of the guests sitting in the first lady section. The U2 singer took center stage as Biden briefly mentioned the “advocates and advocates” who helped lead PEPFAR, President George W. Bush’s global fight against HIV/AIDS.
Paul Pelosi drew one of the evening’s emotional highlights when the president introduced himself as “the man who bears the scars” from a brutal attack on his home last year, in which the alleged conspiracy theorist told police he was looking for his wife , what old Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Paul Pelosi, Biden said, “is as tough and strong and resilient as can be.” Pelosi, who sat between Bono and the Ukrainian ambassador, stood on the House floor and waved to a standing ovation.
As emotional as the evening was, one thing was not different: members of the Supreme Court sat stony-faced at the front of the stage. That was true even as Biden spoke of vetoing any attempt to enact a national abortion ban after the Supreme Court ruled last year in Roe v. Wade to fall.
As Biden embarks on a series of trips to promote his SOTU posts, House Republicans are unveiling a laundry list of Biden investigations, including a Wednesday-focused role for Twitter in suppressing news about Hunter Biden’s laptop. The possible confrontation with the debt ceiling promises to quickly turn into apocalyptic pronouncements. If Biden does announce a 2022 bid, all of his moves will be framed as a strategy against Donald Trump or other potential GOP challengers.
The Democrats in the House of Representatives, for their part, are already striving to win back the majority. When asked about the harassment, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said: “They don’t count because they were caught on the wrong side of the court in this country. … They don’t count. They’re on their way out.”
Source: Deadline
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
