Trump reacts to President Biden's address. Hear what he said

Later today,

Donald Trump will cement

his take over,

really

a family

takeover of the Republican

National Committee.

Shortly, Ronna McDaniel and her co-chair

will officially step down.

A move essentially forced by Trump

and then two candidates

that he has endorsed,

one of whom is his daughter in law.

They are expected to easily

win elections for the top positions

CNN's Elaina

TREENE is at that spring

meeting in Houston

and we'll watch it unfold today Alina.

Yeah, well, good morning, John.

I do want to just start with

some of the reaction

to Joe Biden's speech last night.

We saw Donald Trump.

He watched the address from his home

at Mar

a Lago

and as promised, delivered

a live Play-By-Play on true social

in response to Joe Biden's speech.

And it really was

a stream of consciousness reaction

from Donald Trump.

He attacked Biden heavily.

He went after him on his positions

on Ukraine and Social Security,

but his attacks also grew

increasingly personal.

We know that House Speaker

Mike Johnson

warned Republicans

to maintain decorum yesterday

in the chamber,

but that was advice that did not reach

Donald Trump.

He very much attacked Biden.

He mocked his appearance.

He mocked his hair

and his walk

and also claimed that he was, quote,

so angry and crazy.

Now, Donald Trump

also responded on true social

with some video

taped video messages

in response to Biden's speech,

one of which really trying

to turn the tables

on Joe Biden's argument

that Donald Trump

is a threat to democracy

as we have seen

Donald Trump do in the past.

He claimed that Biden is the true threat.

Take a listen.

Joe Biden is on the run from his record

and lying

like crazy

to try and escape accountability

for the horrific devastation

he and his party have created.

All the while,

they continue the very policies

that are causing this horror show to go.

We cannot take it any longer as a country

Now, John,

obviously we have heard this type

of rhetoric from Donald

Trump in the past as well,

have seen him

live post during these large events.

But they do take on new significance

now that he is

the presumptive Republican nominee.

And it also comes

as his grip

on the Republican Party

is tightening something.

We're going to see play out today

here in Houston with that

RNC spring meeting.

We're going to see Ronna

McDaniel stepped down from her position

as chairwoman.

It comes

after Donald Trump

and her relationship

had really grown tense

and it had been a struggle

for over a year now.

And we're going to see

Donald Trump's hand

pick replacements for her glide

to their path

to the top of leadership

at the committee.

And again,

this comes as Donald Trump is very eager

to use

the weight of the RNC,

have their full interest infrastructure

behind him,

including their data operation,

their ground game strategy,

their poll with voters.

And of course, they are fundraising.

But the way it's been described

to me, John, by senior

advisers, as you said,

it is normal for a presumptive nominee

or a candidate

to have their own control in a way over

the RNC or a committee

when they take power.

But it's been described to me

as more of a takeover for Donald Trump

as he tries to sink his vision

with the RNC.

John and his family with the RNC.

Atlanta train in Houston.

Thank you very much.

President Biden

laying out what he believes

are the stakes right now

and with a very keen eye

toward November, of course, a speech

The Atlantic dubbed

the most unusual State of the Union

in living memory.

Let's test

that against history right now.

CNN presidential story and Tim Naftali

joins us. It's good to see you, Jim.

You've studied many a president

and you studied

many of these major addresses.

What did you see in this speech?

Well,

first of all, you know,

this is the first time

in over a century

that a president,

an incumbent,

is running against a former president.

This is the first time in history

that an 81 year old man

has ever given a State

of the Union address.

And this is the first time in history

that an American president faces

a reelection

challenge against an instigator

of an insurrection.

So just there, we're talking

about an unprecedented historical speech.

President Biden, in many ways

had to give a state

of the president's speech

more than the State of the Union speech.

People were watching

to see his energy level,

his vibrancy,

his fight, his willingness

to fight for reelection.

And people saw it yesterday.

They saw all of that.

It's a it's a really interesting framing.

I don't I hadn't thought of it that way.

People were looking to see how he did

not how he presented

the message or not,

how well crafted the policy was.

That is a

that's an interesting

but in part of

that was it was a surprising bit

how many times that he did

bring up Donald Trump, though

not by name,

talking about his predecessor

to draw contrast between then and now.

Let me play a little bit

just to remind folks

now, my predecessor,

a former Republican president, tells

Putin, quote,

Do whatever the hell you want.

My predecessor

and some of you here

seek to bury the truth about January 6th.

Many of you in this chamber

and my predecessor

are promising to pass a national ban

on reproductive freedom.

And watching.

I had a couple of questions for you.

Do you think that was effective?

And do you think he did it

because he wanted to?

Or do you think he did it

because he needed to

The Biden

coalition is the old

Democratic coalition of the 1990s, plus

folks who don't want to vote

for Donald Trump.

There are independents

and some former Republicans

who will support Biden in 2024

as they did in 2020

just because they don't

want to see Donald Trump

in the White House again.

It is very important

for the president

to remind those elements of his coalition

that he well understands the mandate

they give him.

So I think he had to mention it.

That can't be the only message

he delivers

because there are progressives

in the Democratic coalition

who want to hear much more

and he gave them

more about Gaza last night.

And he also wants

everybody wants a vision for the future.

They just don't want to elect someone

because he wants to be president.

They want to know if we reelect you, sir,

what do you plan to do

in the next four years?

So he had a heavy,

heavy burden on his shoulders last night.

One thing about

we know about the State of the Union is

a lot about

it's a lot about tradition

and it's a lot about you see,

like institutional Washington

right before your eyes.

That's what you're looking at

with the State of the Union.

And looking at this speech

in the historical context,

Biden did

what used to be kind

of thought of as unthinkable,

which is criticizing the Supreme Court

and directly addressing the justices

as they sat

right before him in the chamber.

I want to play this for folks.

This is when he was talking about

the decision

that overturn Roe versus Wade

the Supreme Court majority

wrote the following.

And with all due respect, justices,

women are not without electoral

electoral power.

Excuse me.

Electoral or political power?

You're about to realize

just how much variety that

So what did you make of that moment

and the fact that it's coming from

Joe Biden nonetheless,

Well, first of all,

reproductive rights

are a very important element

of the president's message.

And Vice president's message.

It's got to be

it's got to be a way to energize

and mobilize people who go out to vote

for the team

for the ticket in 20, 20, 40.

He, of course, had to mention it.

He also believes it

in terms of attacking the Supreme Court.

Well, American culture changes.

Our political culture doesn't

stay the same.

We are

in a particularly divisive

partizan moment

where people expect their leader

to show, fight, show the willingness to

to basically express their disappointment

with the status quo.

So I believe that

just as Republicans

expect a certain level of fight,

obviously from Donald Trump

and they get that and more

Democrats and independents

are expecting

the same level of fight from Joe Biden

and he gave it to them yesterday.

It's good to see you, Tim.

Thank you.