President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech started with a lighthearted gesture of bipartisan goodwill, but that evaporated as he repeatedly made statements that irked the Republican side of the aisle.
His Feb. 7 speech marked the first time that the Democrat president, in office since 2021, faced a Republican-controlled House of Representatives as he gave his annual report to the nation.
Biden began by congratulating Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R- Calif.) for being chosen as Speaker of the House, then joked, off-script: “Mr. Speaker, I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you.”
And, Biden said, during the past couple of years, Democrats and Republicans have shown they can work together, noting they approved a “once-in-a-generation infrastructure law, building bridges connecting our nation and our people.”…