This is getting missed in the coverage of Biden’s conflict with House Republicans over his State of the Union Address.
Much of the attention to Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address has focused on the raucous response by Republicans during the speech. I have mixed feelings about this. I miss the decorum and even occasional bipartisan bonhomie that used to be part of the State of the Union. It is hard to imagine today a repeat of 1985, when Congress sang Happy Birthday to Ronald Reagan:
That has been going down hill for a decade, with Joe Wilson’s “you lie,” Nancy Pelosi ripping up Trump’s speech, and Democrats roundly jeering at Donald Trump all being steps on the path. It hasn’t just been a one-way street from Congress either, with Barack Obama chewing out the Supreme Court justices to their face and Justice Samuel Alito mouthing his response as another step. Then again, there is something to be said for the idea that the State of the Union was designed in the Constitution to be the one day out of the year when Congress is entitled to call the president himself (not just his executive officers) on the carpet to explain himself, which he can choose to do either in person or in writing. From Thomas Jefferson until Woodrow Wilson, it was done in writing. A State of the Union in which Congress hoots at the president and he shouts back at them may seem Third World to us, but the British have a long tradition of their prime ministers standing in the well of the House of Commons for a raucous give-and-take with the opposite benches.
What is getting missed in the coverage of Biden’s conflict with House Republicans is this: Biden took a step with little recent precedent in the extent to which he went directly after the opposing party from the podium of the State of the Union. This was the dramatic exchange:
So my — many of — some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage — I get it — unless I agree to their economic plans. All of you at home should know what those plans are. Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans — some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I’m not saying it’s a majority —
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE PRESIDENT: Let me give you —
AUDIENCE: No!
THE PRESIDENT: Anybody who doubts it, contact my office. I’ll give you a copy. I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Liar!
THE PRESIDENT: That means Congress doesn’t vote — Well, I’m glad to see — no, I tell you, I enjoy conversion. (Laughter.) You know, it means if Congress doesn’t keep the programs the way they are, they’d go away. Other Republicans say — I’m not saying it’s a majority of you. I don’t even think it’s a significant —
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: — but it’s being proposed by individuals. I’m not — politely not naming them, but it’s being proposed by some of you. (Cross-talk in the audience.)
THE PRESIDENT: Look, folks, the idea is that we’re not going to be — we’re not going to be moved into being threatened to default on the debt if we don’t respond. (Applause.) Folks — (applause) — so, folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the — off the books now, right? (Applause.) They’re not to be touched? (Applause.) All right. All right. We got unanimity! (Applause.) Social Security and Medicare are a lifeline for millions of seniors. Americans have to pay into them from the very first paycheck they’ve started. So, tonight, let’s all agree — and we apparently are — let’s stand up for seniors. (Applause.) Stand up and show them we will not cut Social Security. We will not cut Medicare. Those benefits belong to the American people. They earned it. And if anyone tries to cut Social Security — which apparently no one is going to do — (laughter and applause) — and if anyone tries to cut Medicare, I’ll stop them. I’ll veto it. (Applause.) And, look, I’m not going to allow them to take away — be taken away. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. But apparently, it’s not going to be a problem. (Laughter and applause.) Next month, when I offer my fiscal plan, I ask my Republican friends to lay down their plan as well. I really mean it. Let’s sit down together and discuss our mutual plans together. (Applause.) Let’s do that.
He went after Republicans again when talking about guns: “Ban assault weapons now! (Applause.) Ban them now! Once and for all. (Applause.) I led the fight to do that in 1994. And in ten years that ban was law, mass shootings went down. After we let it expire in a Republican administration, mass shootings tripled.”
You know who never did this? Donald Trump. No American president has thrived on theatrical conflict and polarization to the extent that Trump did — yet, even he saw the State of the Union as an inappropriate venue for that. Let’s go back to every single time Trump mentioned Democrats in the State of the Union:
2017:
If we are guided by the well-being of American citizens, then I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades….
Obamacare is collapsing, and we must act decisively to protect all Americans. Action is not a choice. It is a necessity. So I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster. . . .
On this and so many other things, Democrats and Republicans should get together and unite for the good of our country and for the good of the American people.
2018:
In the aftermath of that terrible shooting, we came together, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as representatives of the people. But it is not enough to come together only in times of tragedy. Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve. . . .
So tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties — Democrats and Republicans — to protect our citizens of every background, color, religion, and creed. . . . In recent months, my Administration has met extensively with both Democrats and Republicans to craft a bipartisan approach to immigration reform. Based on these discussions, we presented the Congress with a detailed proposal that should be supported by both parties as a fair compromise — one where nobody gets everything they want, but where our country gets the critical reforms it needs.
2019:
The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda. It’s the agenda of the American people. Now, Republicans and Democrats must join forces again to confront an urgent national crisis. Congress has ten days left to pass a bill that will fund our government, protect our homeland, and secure our very dangerous southern border. My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within ten years.
2020: “Whether we are Republican, Democrat, or independent, surely we must all agree that every human life is a sacred gift from God.”
Say what you will about how Republicans reacted to Biden’s provocation. But even Trump never did this to congressional Democrats.