Cenk PRAISES Biden's State of the Union Speech?!

The Young Turks
7 Mar 202411:37

Summary

TLDRThe transcript discusses Joe Biden's State of the Union speech, highlighting its energetic and politically aggressive tone. The speaker notes Biden's focus on attacking Republicans and his predecessor, as well as his policy towards Israel and the construction of a port for humanitarian aid to Gaza. They praise Biden's 15% minimum tax on corporations but criticize his stance on immigration, drug prices, and his lack of action on certain Democratic priorities. The speech is described as a mix of good political strategy and marketing, with some truths but also a significant amount of rhetoric that doesn't align with Biden's actions.

Takeaways

  • 🎤 Joe Biden's State of the Union speech was energetic and politically aggressive.
  • 🤝 There was a lack of bipartisan moments, with Biden directly attacking Republicans and his predecessor.
  • 📣 Biden's speech was notably one-sided, with limited applause lines for both parties.
  • 🚢 Biden proposed building a port to facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza, bypassing Israeli restrictions.
  • 💣 Biden criticized the right-wing Israeli government for starving Palestinians and mentioned U.S. military aid to Israel.
  • 💰 Biden's policy towards Israel was described as a disaster, despite the port initiative.
  • 📈 Biden's 15% minimum tax on corporations was highlighted as a positive policy move.
  • 🤔 The speech contained inaccuracies and was criticized for not aligning with Biden's actions.
  • 🗣️ Biden's delivery was praised for being energetic and assertive, despite some minor stumbles.
  • 🔄 Biden's past positions and actions were scrutinized, with claims of inconsistency on issues like Wall Street and immigration.
  • 🚫 The speech was seen as a mix of political strategy and marketing, with some policies not being actively pursued.

Q & A

  • What was the general tone of Joe Biden's State of the Union speech?

    -The speech was energetic and politically aggressive, with Biden taking a strong stance against Republicans and his predecessor, Donald Trump.

  • How did Biden address the situation in Gaza?

    -Biden mentioned building a port to bring in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, acknowledging the difficulties in providing aid due to the Israeli government's policies.

  • What was the speaker of the house's reaction to Biden's speech?

    -Mike Johnson, the speaker of the house, only stood up twice during the entire speech, which is considered a near record low for opposition response.

  • What was the reaction of the audience during Biden's speech?

    -The Democrats were actively standing and applauding, while the Republicans were less responsive, partly due to their obstinacy and partly because of the aggressive nature of the speech.

  • What was Biden's stance on corporate taxes?

    -Biden mentioned a 15% minimum tax on corporations, which he considers one of the best bills passed by the Democrats in terms of corporate taxes.

  • How did Biden discuss his policy towards Israel?

    -Biden criticized the right-wing government of Israel for starving Palestinians and mentioned sending weapons to Israel without Congressional approval.

  • What did the speaker criticize about Biden's actions on Wall Street?

    -The speaker pointed out that Biden has taken significant corporate contributions and criticized him for not being consistent in his criticism of Wall Street.

  • What was the speaker's opinion on Biden's immigration policy?

    -The speaker felt that Biden used Republican talking points by referring to undocumented immigrants as 'illegals,' but appreciated that Biden did not demonize immigrants.

  • What did the speaker say about Biden's proposed policies?

    -The speaker accused Biden of not being genuine about many of his proposed policies, such as paid leave and higher minimum wage, and criticized him for not proposing them in the Senate.

  • How did the speaker view Biden's comments on drug prices?

    -The speaker was critical of Biden for only lowering the price of one drug and not addressing the high costs of other drugs, calling it counterproductive and a cover for drug companies.

  • What was the speaker's overall assessment of Biden's State of the Union speech?

    -The speaker found the speech to be good in terms of political strategy and messaging, but noted that a significant portion of the content was not truthful, and criticized Biden for not being consistent with his actions and words.

Outlines

00:00

🗣️ Biden's Energetic and Aggressive State of the Union Speech

The speaker discusses Joe Biden's State of the Union speech, noting its surprising energy and political aggression. They highlight Biden's direct attacks on Republicans and his predecessor, Trump, and the lack of bipartisan moments. The speaker appreciates Biden's focus on building a port for humanitarian aid to Gaza and his policy towards Israel, despite criticizing other aspects of his speech. They also mention Biden's emphasis on a 15% minimum tax on corporations and his taunting of Republicans during the speech.

05:02

🤔 Critique of Biden's Rhetoric and Actions

The speaker critiques Biden for not following through on some of his promises, such as paid leave and higher minimum wage. They point out Biden's past actions that contradict his current stance, including his opposition to a higher minimum wage and his handling of drug prices. The speaker also addresses Biden's immigration policy, his failure to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and his lack of action on universal background checks for gun owners. They argue that Biden's speech was filled with lip service and marketing rather than substantive policy proposals.

10:05

🕴️ Biden's Messaging and Political Strategy

The speaker analyzes the messaging in Biden's speech, noting that while it was effective in some respects, much of the content was not truthful. They mention Biden's claim about low inflation and low unemployment rates, which they argue should be emphasized more. The speaker also criticizes Biden's portrayal of the situation in Israel and Gaza, and his failure to propose popular policies like paid leave and the restoration of the child tax credit. They conclude by stating that despite the Democrats' shortcomings, the Republicans are worse, as they represent the interests of the rich and corporate America.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡State of the Union speech

A formal address delivered by the President of the United States to a joint session of Congress, outlining the administration's goals and priorities. In the video, the speaker comments on the aggressive and politically charged nature of Joe Biden's speech, which was a departure from the usual bipartisan tone of such addresses.

💡Joe Biden

The 46th President of the United States, whose State of the Union speech is being discussed. The speaker notes Biden's energetic and aggressive approach in the speech, particularly in his criticism of Republicans and his predecessor, which was unexpected given Biden's history of bipartisanship.

💡Republicans

A major political party in the United States, often referred to as the GOP (Grand Old Party). The speaker mentions that Biden's speech was notably aggressive towards Republicans, with little attempt at bipartisan cooperation, which is unusual for a State of the Union address.

💡Humanitarian assistance

Aid provided to alleviate human suffering and improve living conditions in areas affected by natural disasters, war, or other crises. The speaker praises Biden's initiative to build a port for humanitarian aid to Gaza, highlighting the urgency of bypassing the Israeli government's restrictions.

💡Port

A facility where ships load or unload cargo, often used for trade and transportation. In the context of the video, the speaker refers to Biden's plan to build a port to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is seen as a positive step despite other criticisms of Biden's policies.

💡Corporate tax

A tax levied on the profits of corporations. The speaker highlights Biden's proposal for a 15% minimum tax on corporations as a significant policy achievement, contrasting it with other aspects of Biden's agenda that the speaker finds less satisfactory.

💡Minimum wage

The lowest hourly wage that employers are legally required to pay their employees. The speaker criticizes Biden for not supporting a higher minimum wage, despite his public statements, and points out the contradiction between his words and actions.

💡Drug prices

The cost of prescription medications. The speaker expresses disappointment in Biden's efforts to lower drug prices, noting that only one drug's price has been reduced and that Biden's actions have not addressed the broader issue of high drug costs.

💡Immigration

The movement of people from one country to another, often for permanent settlement. The speaker takes issue with Biden's use of the term "illegals" to describe undocumented immigrants, suggesting that it contradicts his previous stance on immigration during his 2020 campaign.

💡Voting Rights Act

A piece of legislation aimed at protecting the voting rights of all citizens. The speaker criticizes Biden for not doing enough to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, suggesting that his actions do not align with his stated priorities.

💡Child tax credit

A tax credit that reduces the amount of income tax a family owes, based on the number of children they have. The speaker points out that Biden did not make efforts to restore the child tax credit after it expired, despite it being a popular policy.

Highlights

Joe Biden's State of the Union speech was energetic and politically aggressive.

Biden took the fight to the Republicans, surprising with his direct approach.

The speech lacked bipartisan lines, focusing more on attacking the opposition.

Biden repeatedly criticized his predecessor, Trump, throughout the speech.

The speech was marked by a near record low of standing ovations from the opposition.

Biden's policy towards Israel was criticized, especially regarding humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

Biden's initiative to build a port for humanitarian aid to Gaza was praised.

Biden's policy on Israel was described as awful, with continuous weapons shipments.

Biden's 15% minimum tax on corporations was highlighted as a positive policy.

Biden's energy and loudness were noted as overcoming minor speech stumbles.

Biden's taunting of Republicans was seen as a successful strategy.

Biden's past relationship with Republicans was contrasted with his aggressive speech.

Biden's criticism of Wall Street was undermined by his praise for corporations.

Biden's stance on immigration was criticized for using Republican talking points.

Biden's lack of action on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and Universal background checks was pointed out.

Biden's rhetoric on lowering drug prices was criticized for only affecting one drug.

Biden's failure to propose popular policies like paid leave was highlighted as lip service.

The speech was deemed borderline terrific for those unfamiliar with political details.

The speech's substance was criticized as being mostly untrue.

The optical aspect of the speech was generally good, except for a congressman's cane blocking the camera view.

Transcripts

00:00

Joe Biden just gave the State of the

00:01

Union speech and it was pretty good I'm

00:04

pretty surprised to find out it was

00:06

pretty good it was very energetic very

00:08

politically aggressive he took the fight

00:10

to the Republicans in a way that was

00:12

surprising it was as aggressive a speech

00:15

as I have seen certainly from Joe Biden

00:18

in a context of a state of the union but

00:21

honestly in the State of the Union they

00:23

try sometimes to not be so political and

00:26

they'll put on a bunch of bipartisan

00:28

lines and there'll be a bunch of lines

00:29

with their side will applaud for and a

00:31

bunch that both sides will applaud for

00:33

there wasn't much of that here at all he

00:35

just attacked Republicans and his

00:38

predecessor as he kept calling Trump

00:39

throughout the speech all night long he

00:42

hit him and hit him and hit him and the

00:43

Democrats kept standing and Mike Johnson

00:46

speaker of the house uh only got up

00:48

twice during the entire speech which is

00:50

a near record low uh I don't you know

00:53

Haven kept track of that but I've never

00:55

seen the opposition get up so little

00:57

partly because the Republic an are

01:00

obstinate and don't want to get up for

01:02

anything and don't want to appla

01:03

anything that's Democratic but partly

01:05

because Biden was giving us super agries

01:08

of speech okay out a boy that's the kind

01:11

of thing we want to see now don't get me

01:12

wrong uh was it filled with nothing but

01:16

accuracies not exactly were there good

01:19

things in it yes so the two things that

01:21

I really like are uh the fact that he's

01:25

building a port to bring in humanitarian

01:28

assistance to Gaza is is policy towards

01:30

Israel and the rest of his speech in

01:32

that regard I think was a disaster but

01:35

credit where credit is due on the port

01:37

uh let's Rush that Aid in as quickly as

01:39

we can and obviously we have to do that

01:41

because our so-called Ally uh won't let

01:45

us bring in humanitarian assistance

01:46

through the roads uh the right-wing

01:49

government of Israel is currently

01:50

starving the Palestinians and we have to

01:53

get around them so we give them $4

01:55

billion a year want to give them an

01:57

extra $14 billion a year to do more

02:00

bombing we found out uh today in a

02:02

report Joe Biden's actually sent them

02:04

weapons literally hundreds of times

02:06

since October 7th not getting

02:08

Congressional approval just sending more

02:10

and more weapons including bunker

02:11

Busters that Dro 2,000lb bombs his

02:14

policy on Israel is awful overall but

02:17

I'm glad that he's finally getting

02:18

around the Ally Ally and uh and and

02:23

building that Port so we can finally

02:24

make sure those people don't suff but

02:26

it's going to take a couple of weeks and

02:27

a lot of them are going to die in the

02:29

meanwhile so we're going to spend money

02:30

on the port we're going to spend money

02:32

on bombing them we're going to spend

02:33

money on everything that Israel wants

02:35

and some of the things that they don't

02:37

want and are forcing us to do because

02:38

they won't help but I like the port okay

02:41

now uh the other thing is the thing that

02:44

Biden does not get enough credit for is

02:46

a

02:47

15% minimum tax on

02:49

corporations uh that is one of the best

02:52

bills that the Democrats have pass in

02:54

terms of corporate taxes so he said he'd

02:57

raise the corporate tax rate he didn't

02:59

and there were many ODS to corporations

03:02

throughout the speech but that portion

03:04

is great and we appreciate it so you got

03:06

to be fair give credit where creditors

03:09

do overall pretty good speech pretty

03:11

good speech now having said that of

03:13

course I got to talk about the downsides

03:14

too um and he had a couple of uh you

03:17

know stumbles here and there and with

03:19

Biden you get more nervous than you

03:21

normally would a couple of stutters but

03:23

overall not a big deal the the fact that

03:26

he was so energetic and Loud o

03:27

overwhelmed those tiny little blips and

03:30

if it didn't you know me I would

03:31

definitely tell you right and so uh he

03:36

uh and he talks back to the Republicans

03:38

I like that part too so he' look at him

03:40

because that worked on Social Security

03:42

last time around uh so he kind of goed

03:45

them every once in a while he'd look at

03:46

them I was like oh you don't want to you

03:48

don't want to give the uh wealthy

03:50

another two trillion tax tax cut uh and

03:54

I was like okay there you go Joseph I

03:57

like that attitude uh he once said you

04:02

don't want to do that

04:03

huh okay I like that he was taunting him

04:06

it worked for him last time it worked

04:08

really well this time you know how he

04:09

sometimes leans in and goes really I got

04:11

to tell you something and he whispers

04:13

especially with his age not a good idea

04:15

to whisper but this time he was almost

04:17

yelling but I say that as a compliment

04:19

that's good nice aggressive in charge

04:22

the Democrats were chanting four more

04:24

years you know it's a little on State of

04:26

the Union but my God for a guy who's so

04:28

soft and so uh in love with the

04:31

Republicans throughout his career this

04:32

is a welcome refreshing different Joe

04:36

Biden this is a Joe Biden we need to see

04:37

on the campaign Trail so very happy with

04:41

that uh now he couldn't help himself uh

04:44

a couple times in this speech he was

04:46

supposed to one time he supposed to

04:47

criticize Wall Street but he's like now

04:49

don't get me wrong I like Wall Street

04:51

I'm like oh God I know I know dude

04:53

you've taken more corporate

04:54

contributions than uh almost anybody

04:57

Pelosi and McConnell haven't beat maybe

04:59

Hillary Clinton but uh so don't say you

05:02

like Wall Street in the middle of a

05:03

speech where you're trying to criticize

05:04

Wall Street but he can't help him so

05:06

don't don't mind me I I still like he

05:07

bragged about how he comes from the

05:09

state with the most amount of

05:10

Corporations and how much he likes

05:11

corporations it's okay to say hey we

05:13

need business to be strong in America

05:15

without doing like a giant Love Letter

05:18

to Corporate America and to Wall Street

05:20

but that's who uh Joe Biden is look guys

05:23

some of the things that he talked about

05:25

were great the problem is I have to be

05:27

honest with you it's a trick see for

05:29

example he said why don't you pass pay

05:32

leave well what brother why don't you

05:33

propose it like for most of the things

05:36

that he said that you like they're part

05:37

of his discarded agenda that he doesn't

05:39

even care about he even brought up

05:41

higher minimum wage he's the one that

05:42

killed higher minimum wage he told the

05:44

two Delaware Senators to vote against it

05:46

eight Democratic senators voted against

05:48

it when Bernie Sanders proposed it so

05:50

he's totally full of crap on that uh he

05:53

bragged so much about lowering drug

05:55

prices don't you mean lowering drug

05:57

price he's lowered the price on only one

06:00

drug and never like one drug we're such

06:04

Champions no you're not the other tens

06:06

of thousands of drugs are still super

06:08

expensive and Medicare can't negotiate

06:10

with them which makes no sense at all

06:13

Biden didn't fix that in fact I have to

06:15

be honest with you guys what he did was

06:17

counterproductive he made it look like

06:19

we fixed it when he regulated only one

06:21

drug so far and then he says well but

06:22

don't worry in a couple of years that

06:24

could go all the way up to 10 drugs oo

06:27

don't hurt him Joe so that just covering

06:30

for the drug companies I can't stand

06:32

that on immigration he called them

06:36

illegals I mean Joe Biden during the

06:39

campaign in 2020 thought he was getting

06:41

outflanked on the left and he's like

06:42

what are you talking about I love

06:43

undocumented immigrants now all of a

06:45

sudden they're a legals but he did turn

06:46

around and say look uh I'm not going to

06:49

demonize immigrants coming into this

06:51

country they're good people but we you

06:54

know we've got to follow the rules etc

06:56

etc that part is totally fine but you

06:59

know you don't have to use Republican

07:03

talking points uh in order to sound

07:05

tough on immigration uh actually believe

07:08

in your own policies here more stuff

07:10

that he um said but doesn't mean he said

07:14

oh we got to pass the John Lis Voting

07:15

Rights Act you guys threw that on the

07:19

bus you didn't even you barely tried you

07:21

proposed it they killed it with a

07:22

filibuster and you said well I mean I

07:24

moved the filibuster for lifting the

07:26

debt ceiling so the stock market

07:28

wouldn't crash but voted rights nah I

07:30

don't want to move to filibuster for

07:31

that so honestly not not true uh in

07:36

terms of his priorities and how hard he

07:38

tried he said why don't you pass

07:39

Universal background checks every time

07:41

he says something like that by the way

07:42

that pulls as high as

07:44

97% gun owners want it NRA members want

07:47

it there's nothing wrong with a

07:48

universal background check the only

07:50

people who don't want it are gun

07:51

manufacturers who fund the NRA who found

07:53

Republican politicians but Biden's never

07:55

going to talk about the donors because

07:57

he also takes massive money from the

07:58

donors but if you like Universal

08:00

background checks why don't you propose

08:02

it in the Senate remember the Democrats

08:04

control the Senate they could propose

08:06

any of these things and they totally

08:08

refuse to so it's just this is lip

08:10

service and marketing so I'm an honest

08:13

analyst I give him good marks for good

08:16

political strategy and good marketing

08:18

here of his agenda which he doesn't do

08:20

often in the beginning of the speech he

08:22

did a great job with that bring about

08:24

how inflation in America is the lowest

08:27

inflation in the whole world why don't

08:29

you say that every day you should be

08:31

screaming that from the rooftops but he

08:32

did in this case so credit where credit

08:34

is due he talked about how unemployment

08:36

is at a record low of course you should

08:38

do that so that's exact this was this

08:41

was a for Po Folks who don't know the

08:44

inner details of politics and what the

08:47

Democrats do instead of what they say I

08:51

would say this was borderline terrific

08:53

speech if you know that the Democrats

08:55

and Biden are full of crap

08:57

on a huge percent of what he's talking

09:00

about then you can't help but be honest

09:02

and tell people that as well but

09:04

remember whatever the Democrats are bad

09:05

at the Republicans are worse I mean

09:08

there he was like let's make sure the

09:11

billionaires are paying their fair share

09:13

and the Republicans wouldn't get stand

09:14

up for that wouldn't applaud they no and

09:17

he's like well why don't we have them

09:18

pay their fair share and then we could

09:19

help the average American worker and the

09:21

Republicans no boo boo right they didn't

09:24

actually boo there they boo in other

09:26

places but the don't forget the

09:28

Republican Party are total fake populist

09:30

they represent the rich and Corporate

09:33

America more than anyone else does so um

09:36

he said restore that child tax credit

09:39

that was in the first year of his of

09:40

your term brother and then you never

09:42

even bothered to try to bring it back

09:44

how could they restored if you're not

09:45

proposing it I don't know why the

09:47

Democrats don't propose their incredibly

09:50

popular policies well I do know because

09:52

they don't actually want to pass a lot

09:53

of them that's what the rest of the

09:54

media won't ever tell you he says

09:57

imagine paid leave yeah that's the only

10:00

thing we do is imagine it because you

10:01

won't propose it it's so easy to at a

10:05

minimum politically embarrass the

10:06

Republicans because they're all going to

10:08

vote against paid family leave and it

10:10

pulls out 84% 74% of Republican voters

10:12

wanted there's no downside to proposing

10:15

it in the Senate except for the fact

10:17

that their donors will get mad at them

10:19

uh so like I said don't get me wrong

10:22

even though I liked what he said about

10:23

the port uh in in regards to Israel the

10:26

rest of it was total Israeli propaganda

10:29

the cowards and Hamas are hiding behind

10:30

their human Shields what do you think

10:33

they're going to do they're going to

10:33

come out in the middle of an open field

10:35

and be like hey Israel we're right here

10:36

it's a bomb right here okay no they're

10:40

hiding in the among the civilians

10:42

because that's the only place there is

10:45

uh so they're all imprisoned together

10:48

along with the civilians H in these uh

10:51

open air prison camps that uh Israel

10:54

runs called West Bank and Gaza Strip and

10:56

of course Gaza Strip has been absolutely

10:58

decimated

10:59

so look we keep it real here optically

11:02

it was a very good speech especially as

11:04

we were nervous about how Biden was

11:06

going to deliver on this speech there

11:07

was one bad piece of Optics which was

11:10

one of the congressman kept waving his

11:12

Cane and it was coming in front of the

11:13

camera when Biden was trying to look

11:15

young you don't really want the cane on

11:17

camera all the time but otherwise it was

11:19

good optically and and from a messaging

11:22

point of view in terms of the substance

11:25

of the message unfortunately 70% of it

11:27

is still not really true but there were

11:29

a couple of good points in there

11:30

including the 15minute corporate uh

11:32

minimum tax so that's your reality on

11:36

the Biden speech