President Joe Biden delivered the annual State of the Union address on March 1, during a particularly chaotic time for the world.
Biden began his speech by greeting the American public and acknowledging that this was his first State of the Union due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Diving promptly into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Biden stated that “Six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the foundations of the free world thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But he badly miscalculated.”
Biden then recognized the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oskana Markarova, and asked the crowd to rise because “we the United States of America stand with the Ukrainian people.”
Russia has faced consequential economic sanctions from several countries, including “twenty-seven members of the European Union,” the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland among others according to Biden’s address.
University of Maryland sophomore and government and politics major Julia Cicero said that she believes the economic sanctions serve as an effective means to condemn Russia without igniting a war between Russia and the United States.
“I do think the sanctions at this point are necessary and that’s all we can do without it turning into like, full blown conflict,” Cicero said.
However, Biden’s speech did not evade controversy. One particularly controversial statement was in response to the widespread movement to “defund the police” that sparked after the tragic death of George Floyd in 2020.
“The answer is not to defund the police. The answer is to fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities,” Biden asserted.
Many individuals were taken aback by this and found it to be insensitive to the Black community.
“I was shocked at first and then I was kind of angry,” said music major Grace Tifford. “And then I kind of came to terms with it because honestly, both Biden’s and Kamala Harris’ track records are awful when it comes to people of color and systemic racism.”
Biden also shared contentious remarks regarding securing the border. “If we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure the Border and fix the immigration system,” said Biden. The phrase “securing the border” has typically been associated with the Republican agenda, which is why some individuals scrutinized Biden’s usage of the term.
“I’m not shocked at his stance because I think it is a very delicate situation, where he doesn’t want to say, like, ‘Let’s allow all immigrants no matter what,’ like let’s get rid of all processes,” said Cicero. “But he doesn’t want to take the Trump stance, so he’s kind of in an awkward position where he’s just trying to play both sides.”
Biden proposed a “unity agenda,” which consisted of beating the opioid epidemic, improving mental health and its resources, supporting veterans and cutting the cancer rate.
Biden also implored rhetoric referencing unity several times throughout his speech. Many speculated that his controversial statements regarding policing and immigration were an attempt to lessen the bipartisan divide, while gathering Republican support.
“There’s not a lot of sincerity when you’re president, honestly,” Tifford said.