Democrat President Joe Biden faced intense backlash over the speech he delivered to Congress on Wednesday night with many critics calling it extreme, full of false statements, and divisive.
Biden spent the night pushing for big government spending, mocking gun owners, and saying that he did not want conflict with America’s enemies. Biden failed to give the Trump administration any credit for Operation Warp Speed, which did the heavy lifting when it came to getting vaccines developed in historic time.
Here are some of the highlights:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a key GOP swing vote, says of Biden’s speech: “I was not overly inspired.” She also said that there was too much spending, and of pushing such massive proposals: “I think it makes it very difficult for it to be truly bipartisan.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 29, 2021
Biden: “we the people are the government”
Americans: “Wait. What? No. That’s not how this works!
We the people are protected by the Constitution FROM the government.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 29, 2021
After this Biden speech that charts the course for Democrats, I’d be blown away if 2022 wasn’t a bloodbath for Democrats. This could be a historically high backlash.
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) April 29, 2021
Wow, No mention of 20,000-plus migrant kids and teens in custody.
— Monica Campbell (@monica_campbell) April 29, 2021
Biden does sad and grief really well.
But he does not do hope/change/optimism well.
He's kinda depressing.
— emily miller (@emilymiller) April 29, 2021
After an aggressive and rather partisan embrace of big government – and very little in the way of olive branches to Republicans – Biden ends with a call for unity.
— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) April 29, 2021
What a pathetic slurring mishmash of culture war and money machine going brrr, yelled into an echoing chamber of performative Covid theatrics.
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) April 29, 2021
https://twitter.com/RLHeinrichs/status/1387585406393278470
President Biden seems to be using the debunked statistic about soaring billionaire wealth during the pandemic that uses the starting point of the S&P 500 trough rather than the actual beginning of the pandemic.
— Brian Riedl 🧀 🇺🇦 (@Brian_Riedl) April 29, 2021
With Biden’s new taxes proposals, the tax burden on the American people would increase by OVER $3 TRILLION!
Biden is raising taxes to funnel trillions out of your community and into the Washington, D.C. swamp.
— Tommy Pigott (@TommyPigott) April 29, 2021
“When I think climate change, I think jobs”
-guy who killed the Keystone Pipeline with its clean energy and thousands of jobs as his first act as President #JointAddress
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 29, 2021
Biden says he wants people to buy American, but then says he wants to raise taxes on businesses to send jobs overseas
Makes sense!
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) April 29, 2021
Health care workers, scientists, Donald Trump…a lot of people for Biden to thank.
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) April 29, 2021
Will President Unity credit Operation Warp Speed or mention that the incredible & miraculous vaccines — including the vaccine he personally received before taking office — were developed under his predecessor?
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) April 29, 2021
Biden brags about the ‘COVID relief’ bill that was packed with waste and spending that won’t go out the door for years. He then boasts about beating his hilariously low “goals” on vaccines.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) April 29, 2021
Biden also received an intense amount of backlash after seemingly suggesting in his speech that the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building was “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”
The Daily Wire reported earlier in the evening on Wednesday:
Five people died during the January 6 riot, which experts have estimated caused $30 million dollars in damage.
The riots that broke out in 2020 over the death of George Floyd were estimated to have caused up to $2 billion in damage,and those are numbers that only span May 26-June 8, 2020. Those numbers do not include attacks on the federal courthouse in Portland or the violent riot that broke out in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in September 2020. The Guardian noted last year that “at least 11 Americans have been killed while participating in political demonstrations this year and another 14 have died in other incidents linked to political unrest.” The Major Cities Chiefs Association said that more than 2,000 law enforcement officers had been injured during the protests and riots.
Others online quickly pointed out that the loss of life and damage caused during the 9/11 Islamic terrorist attacks and the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 were both substantially higher than the January 6 riot.
Commentators and political pundits took shots at Biden over the claim:
He should know better than this, considering he's old enough to remember all the intervening events since the Civil War https://t.co/zIBizBtqBp
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 28, 2021
3,000 Americans died on 9/11 https://t.co/Cz6lomnKuC
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 28, 2021
BlueAnon finally hallucinated something bigger than Russia. I'm proud of them. https://t.co/61VGY045It
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) April 28, 2021
An insult to every American who lost their life on 9/11 and every member of the military Sen. Biden sent to die to avenge that day. https://t.co/Rrp1V0Urw8
— L A R R Y (@LarryOConnor) April 28, 2021
The Weather Underground LITERALLY detonated a bomb in the Capitol building. A Communist organization LITERALLY bombed near the Senate chamber. Not downplaying Jan 6, but the Capitol has seen LITERAL BOMBS blow up inside the building, @POTUS https://t.co/ucYKGJLSIB
— ⚾️ Mary #FlyTheW 🐻 (@mchastain81) April 28, 2021
Remember 2013 when @Snowden revealed that US intelligence agencies, working with Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc. were doing routine mass electronic surveillance of our citizens, in flagrant defiance of the Constitution?
Seems like maybe that was a bigger attack on democracy? https://t.co/MlaHBfdlBJ
— Geoffrey Miller (@primalpoly) April 28, 2021
Pretty sure 9/11 was worse…… https://t.co/Luky9QMGdt
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 28, 2021
May 19th Communist Org (Weather Underground/Black Lib Army)
– 1/28/83: Bombed the Federal Building in New York.
– 4/25/83: Bombed National War College
– 11/7/83: Bombed the U.S. Senate
-8/18/83: Bombed Navy YardAnd many more… https://t.co/z2ZBWuk8Oz
— Jason Buttrill (@JasonButtrill) April 28, 2021
Wonder if anyone at @CNN or @Acosta will remind @POTUS @JoeBiden of 9/11 or Pearl Harbor? https://t.co/dvUHtR0BjK
— Michael D. Brown (@MichaelBrownUSA) April 28, 2021
There is no bigger prog whistle than "our democracy." (We live in a constitutional republic.) https://t.co/7y9SrZWjQf
— Thaddeus McCotter (@ThadMcCotter) April 28, 2021
Three-quarter million soldiers just turned in their graves 🙄 #BidenAddress https://t.co/PIiO0IVrFM
— Eric R Olson (@EricROlson) April 28, 2021
How? Not one thing Biden has done on the pandemic is different from what Trump had already done, other than mask-shaming the “Neanderthals.” And Biden got that one very wrong. https://t.co/aFYgs1LeIN
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) April 28, 2021
I’m honestly surprised Democrats don’t say the worst attack on our democracy was Russia in the 2016 election. https://t.co/8NVU3KICXC
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) April 28, 2021
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1387546252175462403
Biden asserts riot was a worse attack than various bombings and deadly attacks on the Capitol, deadly Summer of Rage with its attacks on the WH and federal court buildings, four presidential assassinations, another five assassination attempts, Pearl Harbor, and 9/11. OK. https://t.co/1S7Hc0nsLW
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) April 28, 2021
This article was expanded after publication to include additional information.
