President Biden gathered both chambers of the U.S. Congress in the capitol building and delivered the annual State of the Union (SOTU) address on Feb. 3, to speak about the government’s past accomplishments and future initiatives.

The Republican Party selected newly elected Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, to give the Republican response to Biden’s speech. Huckabee highlighted the conflict between the Democrats and Republicans.

In the 2022 midterms, Republicans took control of the House of Representatives (H.R.) with a majority of nine seats, allowing for a small caucus of Republican congressmen to delay the election of California representative, Kevin McCarthy, as Speaker of the House.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party gained one seat in the Senate with the election of Pennsylvania Senator, Joe Fetterman. However, Arizona Senator Kristen Sinema left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent, meaning she is not part of any political party. 

This maintained the 50-50 balance of power and contributed to making the current 118 Congress the most divided in decades.

Biden’s State of the Union Address

Biden began his speech by congratulating Speaker McCarthy on his election as well as New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries on becoming the new Democratic Minority Leader, leader of the House Democratic Caucus, and the first black lawmaker to ever lead a party in Congress.

He also commended Senate Minority Leader and Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, for being the new longest-serving member of the United States Senate, and recognized California representative, Nancy Pelosi, as the person who he believes is “the greatest speaker of the House of all time.”

To begin recounting the accomplishments of his administration, Biden stated that it created 12 million jobs, more than any president has created in a full four-year term, as well as a 50-year low unemployment rate of 3.4 percent.

He continued to argue for the strength of the U.S. job market, stating that too many American jobs have gone to other countries and that this can be prevented if the government “buy(s) American”, which would entail the government, companies, and individuals purchasing products and materials made in America.

In particular, he focused on the manufacturing industry, which has seen 800,000 new jobs under the Biden administration, the fastest growth in 40 years.

Biden also plans to invest $300 billion in the manufacturing sector and to implement new standards that ensure American products are used for federal construction projects.

He also claimed that semiconductor microchips will be a major focus, as the U.S. has declined from producing 40 percent of the world’s chips to 10 percent.

Biden also emphasized infrastructure as an important issue, arguing that America’s had declined severely. To address this,  Biden claimed his administration had and would continue to make major strides, requesting that Congress “finish the job” after the passage of his infrastructure plan in 2021.

He added that despite political conflict, bipartisan legislation such as the Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Recognition Act is still possible. Additionally, Biden addressed concerns about the economy, particularly inflation.

He noted that inflation has declined every month, gas prices are down $1.50 from their peak, prices of food have drastically decreased, and that 10 million Americans applied to start new businesses in 2022.

Biden then shifted his focus to healthcare. He vowed that, just like Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), the government would invest in finding treatments for cancer.

He mentioned his accomplishment of limiting the price of insulin to $35 dollars/month for Medicare recipients and asked Congress to support his plan to make that price universal, as 10 percent of Americans are diabetic.

This is part of Biden’s initiative to lower prescription drug prices, which he claims will help to lower the federal deficit by “hundreds of billions of dollars”.

Overall, Biden demanded that Congress move with him to make the economy fairer for lower-income Americans.

He declared his support for the Junk Fee Prevention Act, a bill that intends to stop companies from overcharging customers.

He also pointed out that since wealthy corporations and people abuse tax laws, arguing his billionaire minimum tax proposal is an effective solution, ensuring billionaires pay a similar percentage of their income as the middle class.

Biden said that not solving these problems has increased the deficit, which he claimed decreased by $1 trillion under his presidency.

Furthermore, he attacked the Trump administration, claiming that 25 percent of the total deficit the federal government has accumulated came from Trump and the deficit increased every year he was in office.

This along with Biden’s other claims, resulted in verbal backlash from some members of Congress.

At one point, Biden asserted that some Republicans wanted to cut Medicare and Social Security which caused a similar reaction.

Another instance of retaliation to Biden’s rhetoric was when Biden spoke of how he intended to secure the border from fentanyl, and multiple congressmen said  “it’s your fault!”

In spite of sporadic retaliation, most of Biden’s statements were granted applause from the people present in the chamber, but it did enough to indicate significant discontentment against his administration

Regardless, Biden continued his address.

He claimed that COVID-19 will soon no longer be classified by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as a public health emergency, and deaths due to the disease are down 90 percent from their peak.

In the chamber were not only members of the federal government, but numerous honored guests, including the parents of Tyre Nichols, a black man who was murdered as a result of police brutality.

Biden claims Nichols’ mother maintained hope because she believes that “something good must come of this”. He used to advocate for policing reform, building off of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

Biden then touched on gun laws, stating that when he spoke to the parents of the people killed in the Uvalde massacre, their sole demand was that he “do something”.

In addition, he called attention to the guest, Brandon Tsay, who disarmed the suspected gunman of the Lunar New Year shootings in Alhambra, California.

In response to gun violence, Biden requested Congress to pass red flag laws, implement enhanced background checks, and ban assault weapons.

He spoke about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, claiming the U.S. rallied the nations of North Atlantic Treat Organization (NATO), built a coalition, and protected Democracy, and honored Oksana Makarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S.

He especially expressed confidence in American Democracy, pointing out that the nation had survived after the January 6 insurrection, which he claims still has lasting effects. He included the attack on Representative Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, in Oct. He was also among the guests.

Biden concluded his speech by claiming that “the state of the union is strong!”, though his message did not go unchallenged.

Sanders’ Republican Response

From Little Rock, Arkansas, Gov. Sanders attempted to refute Biden’s message and speak for the Republican Party about the current conditions in the country.

She began by countering Biden’s view of America, claiming that the Democratic Party intends to rule the people, whilst the Republican Party uses the correct approach to govern: to serve the people, claiming that America is great because it is free.

Gov. Sanders recounted her mother’s battle with spinal cancer and her own battle with thyroid cancer, arguing that it is through faith that people can overcome adversity.

She went on to compare herself to Biden, touting her accomplishments as the first woman to become governor of Arkansas, and the youngest governor in the country at age 40 as compared to Biden, who is the oldest President in American history at age 80.

She also said that he has surrendered himself to the “woke mob”.

She added the radical left has hijacked the government and allowed rapid inflation and high violent crime rates, declaring the Republicans as the party of normality and the Democrats as the party of craziness.

Sanders said this has led to racism and indoctrination in American public schools, which she has attempted to combat through signing executed orders banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) and other programs viewed unfavorably by Republicans, whether or not they were already taught in Arkansas schools.

Moreover, she repealed COVID-19 restrictions to prevent “authoritarian mandates and shutdowns”

She attacked Democrats for allegedly causing the rise of fentanyl, violent crime, inflation, as well as instability in foreign nations such as Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and Ukraine.

Furthermore, she attacked President Biden for being weak on China, whom she believes to be our greatest adversary.

Sanders further attacked Democrats for allegedly inciting a “woke culture war” and conspiring with big technology companies to deprive Americans of their freedoms.

Sanders provided no evidence to support her claims, but consistently expressed sentiments that resonated well with conservative voters and politicians.

She then recounted the moment her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and former President Bill Clinton opened the doors of Little Rock Central High School to the “Little Rock 9”, a group of black students who were denied entry 40 years prior, symbolizing the end of segregation in America.

This contributed to her belief that every child deserves a quality education. She claims she will bring this to Arkansas with her newly announced education package, which attempts to allow all schools to provide a strong enough education to allow underserved children escape poverty.

Sanders concluded her speech by addressing a moment she believed encapsulates what is great about America.

During her time as Press Secretary to former President Trump,  Sanders, other executive officials, the First Lady, and Trump himself surprised American troops stationed in Iraq on Christmas.

According to Sanders, the room erupted into cheering, shouting “U.S.A” in unison, which to her, represented the great things America can accomplish.

 She vowed that a new generation of Republicans would work to preserve liberty against the failure of the Democratic Party.

Reactions to the remarks

Fact-checking agencies such as The Poynter Institute concluded that Biden’s address contained factually correct information, but excluded key context and data that made it somewhat misleading on the whole.

However, this appears not to have affected his reception in the court of public opinion. Polls indicate that 72 percent of Americans felt positive about Biden’s speech, suggesting that the president’s agenda and approach were able to appeal to Americans. 

Biden’s total approval rating stands at roughly 42 percent. It is unclear what impact the SOTU address will have on his reception, but it has thus far raised by 1-2 percent since his speech.

Meanwhile, Sanders’ response has been determined to also be partially deceptive. Some of her statements were categorically true, misleading, and completely unfounded.

Sentiments regarding her remarks appear to be mixed based on political affiliation, with prominent figures on different sides of the aisle have expressed differing opinions.

Only time will tell whether or not the Biden administration or other politicians can accomplish their goals, and beyond that, if they will truly be able to improve the SOTU.