Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) stated that in his view President Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday was essentially the start of the President’s reelection campaign, despite the fact that Biden has not yet announced his reelection bid officially.
Clyburn, the House assistant Democratic leader, and former House Democratic whip, in an interview on “CNN This Morning” said that the State of the Union marked the “best effort” that he had seen from the president in a “long, long time.” He further referenced a line from Biden’s speech “Let’s finish the job,” and said that it was a great way of setting up the foundation for the work the President was doing. He added that he thought the American people would react positively to the address overall.
According to a CNN poll around 72 percent of viewers had a positive reaction to Biden’s State of the Union address.
Clyburn in reference to the heckling during the address said that the way in which one responds to heckling sets a lot up for the type of “person you are.” He added that Biden the previous night had shown the maturity that Republicans would like to see from their President.
There were many points during his speech at which the GOP reacted by shouting. The most notable of which referred to the Republicans’ wish to sunset Social Security and Medicare, as well the situation regarding immigration and opioids.
Clyburn said that Biden had been very good about responding to the hecklers positively with a “nice little smile.”
