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State of the Union Address: Kickoff tTo a Campaign Speech | World In :60 | GZERO Media

Biden's SOTU touts domestic wins but not foreign policy

Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

What's your reaction to Biden's State of the Union address?

Well, I mean, a couple things. First of all, even longer than last year's. He has the longest State of the Unions of any president in memory. And he is getting old. He's 80 years old. The first half of the speech, he came across as very strong, pretty compelling. Second half of the speech, he was obviously getting tired. He was having difficulty with some of the sentences. That doesn't show incredibly well. More importantly, has a lot of domestic wins that he's focusing on. This feels like a kickoff to a campaign speech. I fully expect him to announce his run for the presidency formally in the next couple of months, and I think pretty much everyone on the Democrats side does as well.

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State of the Union a Biden 2024 Campaign Preview | US Politics In :60 | GZERO Media

State of the Union a Biden 2024 campaign preview

Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC shares his perspective on US politics:

What are three takeaways from Joe Biden's State of the Union address?

The first takeaway is that Joe Biden is definitely going to run for reelection. There was some question about this prior to the midterm elections when Democrats did surprisingly well. But based on the content of last night's speech, which was more of a campaign rally than anything else, where he took a victory lap for his efforts on climate change, where he took digs at his political rivals, the Republicans, and where he really laid out a vision of what the next six years of a Biden presidency might look like, it seems very clear that this man is going to run.

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President Joe Biden waves as he delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.

Jacquelyn Martin/Pvia REUTERS

Biden: We must ‘finish the job’ of repairing US economy

President Joe Biden gave his second State of the Union address Tuesday night to a packed – and maskless – Congress. Seated behind him were VP Kamala Harris and newly tapped Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Much of the speech was dedicated to touting the administration’s legislative achievements over the past two years. That includes the CHIPS Act, aimed at boosting domestic chip manufacturing, and the wide-ranging bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act, which, contrary to the bill’s name, focused on addressing climate change and lowering drug prices. The president celebrated over 300 bipartisan bills passed under his watch.

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Members of of the Armed Forces of Ukraine prepare amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near Bahmut, Ukraine.

REUTERS/Marko Djurica

What We're Watching: A looming Russian offensive, Biden’s State of the Union, Lasso’s losses

Ukraine prepares for Russian assault amid troubling rumors

The Institute for the Study of War, a military think tank based in Washington, DC, has forecast that Russia will launch a major military offensive in eastern Ukraine in the coming weeks. (Russia remains much less likely to again send troops from Belarus toward Kyiv because Ukrainian troops are now even better armed and positioned in the north than when they routed Russian forces last spring.) Ukrainian intel officials say Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian forces to capture the full territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts by the end of March, and Ukraine’s defense minister has warned that Russian forces may have mobilized a lot more soldiers than has been widely reported in Western media. Preparations for a Russian offensive and a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive come at a tricky moment for Ukraine. Rumors are flying that President Volodymyr Zelensky may replace Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov following the ministry’s suspected involvement in a corruption scheme involving overpayment for food – though Reznikov has not been personally implicated. We’ll be watching to see what happens next, but Zelensky has not yet publicly addressed the conflicting reports.

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3 Takeaways From State of the Union Address | US Politics In :60 | GZERO Media

Biden's State of the Union address: 3 takeaways

Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, shares his perspective on how the State of the Union address.

Today's topic is: Three takeaways from last night's State of the Union address.

My first takeaway is that Biden hasn't backed down at all from his aggressive and very progressive agenda, listing off a series of policies that excited Democrats, but are really non-starters with Republicans, from gun control to immigration reform. None of this is going to happen because Biden lacks the votes in the House and definitely in the Senate. And the parts that do happen are really up to the whims of one man, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin who signaled today that he was willing to work with the White House on parts of Biden's agenda, including drug price reform, money for decarbonization, reforming the tax code, and deficit reduction. And it's really up to Democrats to decide if that would be enough for them.

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U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.

Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS

Biden's State of the Union takes aim at Putin

President Joe Biden kicked off his first State of the Union address Tuesday night by condemning Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and praising Ukrainians’ bravery in defending their country. He also vowed to inflict more pain on Russia, announcing that the US would join the EU and Canada in banning Russian aircraft from US airspace. Indeed, some have criticized the move, saying this makes it harder for Americans in Russia to leave, but the Biden administration says there are other routes available for reaching the US.

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U.S. President Joe Biden

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Biden’s State of the Union: Big challenges and potential opportunities

President Joe Biden's speechwriters have been busy. They likely scrapped and rewrote much of his State of the Union address after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The annual address, to be delivered at the US Capitol on Tuesday night, is usually an opportunity for the president to lay out a political vision, laced with a healthy dose of cheery optimism.

But Biden will rise to the podium against the backdrop of relentless bad news. Ahead of his first SOTU, what issues are plaguing Biden’s presidency and how might he try to spin them in his favor?

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US Politics in 60 Seconds - February 4, 2019

US Politics in 60 Seconds: Trump's State of the Union

President Trump's rescheduled State of the Union will be held on Tuesday. Here's what to watch for.

It's your US Politics in 60 Seconds with Ben White!


And go deeper on topics like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence at Microsoft on The Issues.

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