Reaction to the State of the Union

The stakes are high for President Biden's State of the Union address with war raging in Ukraine, high inflation, low approval ratings, and Americans exhausted by the pandemic

Air Date: March 2, 2022 10:00 am

President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, as Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., watch, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Washington. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)

President Biden delivers his first State of the Union address tonight at a time of crisis, with Russia waging an increasingly bloody war against Ukraine. State of the Union speeches are usually an opportunity for presidents to tout their accomplishments, but this is a challenging time for Americans, who are anxious about rising inflation and exhausted after two years of the pandemic. President Biden is also facing historically low approval ratings at around 37%, and the country is politically and culturally divided.

But there are some bright spots to point out, including his historic Supreme Court nominee pick, Ketanji Brown Jackson, an infrastructure bill and a strong economy, if the Russia-Ukraine war doesn’t derail it. This hour, we get reactions to Biden’s address, the tenor he struck, and if it will help him reset this presidency from a trio of guests.

Guests

LaFleur Stephens-Dougan, political science professor at Princeton University and the author of Race To The Bottom: How Racial Appeals Work in American Politics. @LaFleurPhD

Will Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist @will_bunch

Christopher Nicholas, GOP political consultant with Eagle Consulting Group @Eagle63

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