President Biden began his State of the Union address on March 7 by doubling down on his failed policies during the Russia-Ukraine War – and at home.
Biden stressed how important it is to continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Putin. “If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not,” said Biden, “but Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself.”
Biden called out President Trump for telling President Putin, “Do whatever the hell you want.”
Before Biden faced the nation, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released his own speech, titled “How I See the State of Our Union,” on social media platforms.
Kennedy’s speech drew inspiration from the America of his father, his uncle, and Martin Luther King; an America that was “the template for liberty” around the world; an America with a “can-do spirit” that was “built for resistance”; and an America forged by the hard-won prosperity of the postwar era, blended with the optimistic radicalism of the civil rights and antiwar movements. While he acknowledged that we had “lost touch” with that vision of what America can be, he spoke about restoring it – in part by ending the “forever wars” and by promoting peace around the world.
On the campaign trail, Kennedy has repeatedly described the Russia-Ukraine war as a sinister proxy war, with the Ukrainian people pawns in the Biden neocon agenda to weaken Russia. In a Fox News interview last year, Kennedy stated that Americans have been “lied to about what the purpose of the war is … the neocons in the White House have been provoking this war for ten years and continued to avoid all talks of peace and all efforts to settle the dispute.”
In comparison to Biden’s hour-long rant, Kennedy’s nine-minute speech suggested that despite all the problems America faces, better leadership can restore America, especially the “tattered middle class.”
Throughout Biden’s address, he refused to name President Trump, referring to him simply as his “predecessor.” Instead of providing a new vision for America and insisting on more of the same, Biden compared his policies to Trump’s – on numerous topics, including abortion, the January 6 protest and riot at the capitol, the border, and foreign policy. He accused Trump of being a threat to democracy and for trying to “bury the truth of January 6th.”
Biden’s address grew even more partisan as he argued with, and baited, some of the Republican lawmakers in the chamber, who frequently interrupted, at one point donning “Trump 2024” apparel.
In his videotaped “How I See the State of Our Union” address, Kennedy spoke of bipartisan antics such as these that pit Americans against each other. “Americans everywhere want to heal that divide, our nation has become artificially divided by political forces that can survive only when we the people are at war with each other,” said Kennedy. “Americans are tired of these dire warnings that to preserve democracy itself you better ‘vote for our guy.’”\
Finally, Kennedy said Americans are growing apathetic about being forced to choose the lesser of the two evils on the ballot. Stressing the vital need to raise Americans’ living standards and make the dream of home-ownership a reality again for all Americans, Kennedy presented himself as the man to renew and unite and heal a nation at war with itself.
