Watch President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union speech live on CBSNews.com or the CBS News app.
President Biden will be delivering his 2024 State of the Union address Thursday evening as he faces a broad array of challenges: widespread concern about southern border, the public’s frustration with the economy, his handling of the Israel-Hamas war and the war in Ukraine.
The speech, his third State of the Union and the final one of his first term, also takes place against the backdrop of the November election, two days after the Super Tuesday primaries effectively ensured that he’ll face former President Donald Trump this fall in a rematch of their 2020 race. As the only major Democratic candidate, Mr. Biden has dominated the nominating contests during his primary reelection campaign, but the 81-year-old president continues to face lingering questions about whether he’s too old to run.
Some recent general election polling shows the president trailing Trump. A CBS News poll this month found that a majority of Americans think the economy is bad and believe Mr. Biden’s policies would increase prices, compared to policies that would be implemented by Trump. This seems to be the case despite evidence that the economy has been steadying. Unemployment has remained at record lows, under 4%, and inflation is down to around 3%, well below peaks exceeding 9% two years ago.
But during Mr. Biden’s presidency, Americans have experienced a higher cost of living: grocery prices are 20% higher than they were three years ago, home prices are rising and mortgage rates are hovering at just over 7%.
The president is expected to urge Congress to take action to ease the economic strain on Americans by working to lower health care costs, among other ideas.
Mr. Biden is also expected to press Congress to pass national security funding to support Ukraine, which is rapidly exhausting military weapons and supplies it needs to resist Russia’s invasion. The national security bill that includes funding for Ukraine and Israel remains stalled in Congress after Trump opposed the measure.
Alabama Sen. Katie Britt is set to deliver the Republican response to President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address, a rebuttal that comes as the GOP seeks to draw a contrast with the president heading into the November general election and establish that it is the Republican party is better positioned to lead the nation.