While Thursday night’s State of the Union address gave President Joe Biden a forum from which to make his case to the American people ahead of November’s election, his likely challenger also seized the opportunity to reach voters directly.
Prior to Biden’s speech, former President Donald Trump announced that he would be providing real-time commentary via social media.
“I am pleased to inform you that tomorrow night we will be doing a LIVE, Play by Play, of Crooked Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I will correct, in rapid response, any and all inaccurate Statements, especially pertaining to the Border and his Weaponization of the [Justice Department], FBI, [attorneys general], and District Attorneys, to go after his Political Opponent, ME (something never done before in this Country!). We did this once before to tremendous success — Beating All Records. It is important for the Country to get the TRUTH!”
Trump’s coverage proved so popular that the social media platform attracted massive traffic, causing some users to report temporary interruptions or delays due to the sheer demand on its servers.
The GOP presidential front-runner’s posts throughout the night touched on topics from the violence committed by undocumented migrants under the Biden administration to the president’s penchant for coughing into his hand.
Trump described his successor as “a threat to democracy,” adding, in all caps: “He weaponized government against his opponent — didn’t talk about that, never happened before.”
Biden used his State of the Union address to divide Americans.
President Trump used his State of the Union addresses to bring Americans together.pic.twitter.com/KiZscVQxIY
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 8, 2024
Trump provided additional analysis of Biden’s speech in remarks to Fox News late Thursday night.
“He was angry, mentally disturbed, and misrepresenting a lot of the facts concerning almost every subject he discussed,” the former president said. “But he got through it. He is still breathing, and they didn’t have to carry him out in a straitjacket. Other than that, I think he did a terrible job.”
Trump also responded to the many instances in which Biden indirectly referred to him during the address.
“He suffers from a terminal case of Trump derangement syndrome, which is only curable through impeachment,” he said.
Trump offered another reason for his successor’s continued focus on him, asserting: “Because I’m beating him by 14 points in the polls.”
