On March 7, President Joe Biden did not perform his duty to inform the American people about the actual state of America; instead, he chose to mock and ridicule nearly half of the nation while giving a hackneyed campaign speech full of half-truths and “misinformation.”
Biden began his speech with a cringe-worthy attempt at humor, saying, “If I were smart, I’d go home right now.” Never has a joke uttered so much truth.
Then, Biden instantly morphed into “Dark Brandon” mode. He began squinting. You could almost see the red lasers emanating from his nearly closed eyes. His voice deepened.
“In January 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt came to this chamber to speak to the nation. … Hitler was on the march. War was raging in Europe. … President Roosevelt’s purpose was to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this was no ordinary moment,” Biden solemnly stated.
Then, after a pause for emotional effect, Biden continued, “And yes, my purpose tonight is to both wake up this Congress, and alert the American people that this is no ordinary moment either.”
Wow, I thought, Biden already pulled the Hitler, World War II, and FDR cards. Incredibly, it got even darker.
“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today,” Biden roared. Of course, Biden was alluding to his “predecessor”—former President Donald Trump—who he mentioned more than a dozen times during the evening.
Biden went on to claim that his 2024 opponent, the guy who has been charged with 91 felonies and has been ordered to pay more than $550 million in fines due an unprecedented federal-government coordinated lawfare operation, poses “the gravest threat to our democracy since the Civil War.
Biden then turned to abortion, although he never mentioned that word, (he uses the term “reproductive rights”) referring to the decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade as, “another assault on freedom.” He proceeded to issue a veiled threat to the nine Supreme Court justices sitting literally right in front of him. The look of total puzzlement/horror on Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) face said it all.
Then, Biden’s tone and cadence changed as he launched into a diatribe about how he inherited an economy in 2021 that was on the brink of disaster (not true) and how his policies over the past three years have led an economic renaissance he described as the “greatest comeback story never told.”
As he was having trouble keeping up with the teleprompter and began mushing words together, it became difficult to understand him as the speech continued. However, I was still able to discern the core message of the meat of his speech.
In short, the approximately 40-minute segment can be summed up thusly: the Biden administration’s policies have resulted in economic nirvana for all Americans, especially those in the middle- and working-classes, and inflation does not exist.
Then, came the grand finale. Dark Brandon blamed the Southern border disaster on Republicans; verbally spared with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) about the murder of Laken Riley (Biden called her “Lincoln” Riley); inferred that all Republicans are racist, transphobic, homophobic, misogynist, climate change deniers; claimed crime is way down and that all shootings ought to be blamed on the National Rifle Association, claimed Israel is bad, and emphasized that the United States must provide aid and humanitarian assistance to Hamas, er, I mean Gazans.
Then, in a sudden flash, Biden transformed from Dark Brandon back into the frail, 81-year-old “uniter” and “statesman” he likes to portray himself as. “I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Claymont, Delaware among working people who built this country,” he said. I’m just Lunch Bucket Joe who rides the Amtrak.
Of course, at the very end, Biden mentioned all of the usual clichés about how our best days remain ahead of us and how we can defeat climate change. Blah, blah, blah.
Don’t fall for the media spinsters who are the calling the speech glorious and showing cherry-picked cheerful soundbites and applause lines on an endless loop. I’ve watched many of these speeches and this was unlike any other I have ever seen.
I don’t like Dark Brandon. So, “Let’s Go, Brandon!”
Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.