Republican and Democrat lawmakers want President Biden to address different issues at the upcoming State of the Union.
Ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday, Fox News Digital asked members of congress to share what they think the president needs to talk about during his highly anticipated speech.
The GOP members said that Biden needs to talk about how he will address the southern border crisis and rising costs, while Democrats think the president should focus on his first term wins.
Several Republicans told Fox News Digital that while they would like to hear Biden address the issues at the southern border, they do not actually expect him to talk about it.
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Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital that he hopes Biden “would actually use his authority to secure the border,” but “I don’t actually expect to hear that though.”
Similarly, Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., said that Biden “needs to address his failures,” but that the content of his State of the Union address “depends on what his speechwriters put in his speech.”
“He needs to address his failures, but I don’t know if he’ll do that or not,” Westerman said. “He should be talking about the border and the increased cost of food and energy that are a cause of his actions.”
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Rep Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., would also like to see the southern border crisis be acknowledged during the speech, but that “if he says anything about the border, he’ll blame that on Republicans.”
“I would hope he’d talk about the crisis at the border and just how a lot of Americans are really hurting, and what we’re going to do to try to help them. I would say he’ll probably just spin it and if he says anything about the border, he’ll blame that on the Republicans,” Burchett told Fox. “I’d like to hear he’d have to say. I just can’t imagine it being anything of any substance because the truth is damning.”
Democrat Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., told Fox that he believes Biden should talk about his first term track record during Thursday’s address.
“I think he needs to talk about the incredible first term track record that includes the infrastructure bill, negotiating with the drug companies, to lower prescription drug prices for Medicare, passing the Pact Act for veterans. And how he’s going to continue that momentum in the second term,” Magaziner said.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., would also like Biden “to continue to talk about all the amazing work he’s done when it comes to bringing manufacturing back to the United States,” while fellow Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox he wants to hear the president support the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act.
Another Democrat, Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., said Biden should talk about “the good things the Biden administration has done.”
“I think he needs to make sure he speaks to the American people and explain all of the good things the Biden administration has done for the American people and where we want to go in the future,” Ivey said ahead of the speech.
Biden is scheduled to give the 2024 State of the Union address on Thursday, March 7.
