President Joe Biden addressed the nation Tuesday night with his first State of the Union, detailing America's plan to tame the Russia-Ukraine conflict and move the nation forward following the COVID-19 pandemic.
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In an effort to console the nation, Biden urged a unified front against Russia and was optimistic about life after coronavirus. KCBS Radio political reporter Doug Sovern joined KCBS Radio’s "Bay Current" on Wednesday to analyze the president’s address.
The speech was empathetic to the Ukrainian people and offered a view of solidarity for the war-torn country. Biden also invited Ukraine’s ambassador to attend the historic event, where he received a standing ovation and an embrace from First Lady Jill Biden.
"He devoted the first 12 minutes to Ukraine and Russia, which I've never seen a president begin the State of the Union with foreign policy," Sovern said. "But that’s the number one topic right now."
Despite Biden’s emphasis on national conflict, he also took a granular look at domestic struggles and talked more about the specifics of his agenda for the American people.
"The plan Biden was addressing is the "Build Back Better" plan, and a lot of this has already been installed," Sovern explained. "It seemed that there was a new plan that he was proposing in this speech, but he was noting elements of his domestic agenda that have expired or have not been passed in Congress."
Sections of the speech also emphasized Biden’s accomplishments, like the "Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill," one of the president’s most notable achievements in just over a year in the oval office.
"People say you can't achieve bipartisanship, but Biden said in his speech that he has achieved it," Sovern added. "Republicans don't support higher taxes, especially the taxes that the Democrats want to pass. It’s very difficult right now, and people are stuck on their politics and partisanship. It’s hard to move one side to the other."
Sovern emphasized that President Biden’s approval is still around 40% nationally, which is as low as President Trump’s rating when he entered his first State of the Union Address.
"The difference is that Biden has gone from 50% approval to 40%," Sovern mentioned. "But he has done a good job at explaining why we have inflation and has given a plan to solve it, which is basically to build more things and to buy more things here in America."
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