Joe Biden’s first presidential address to a joint session of Congress this past Wednesday will not likely be remembered as one of the great presidential speeches in history. In fact, the most remarkable aspect of Biden’s presentation may have been that it was delivered by someone other than Donald Trump. Still, Biden DID speak, and hit upon a number of themes, including reiterating his agenda, tipping his hat to various Democratic interest groups, highlighting the need for “unity” and warning about the threat posed by China.
In this clip from The Damage Report, John and Viviana Vigil give their assessments of the address, and what takeaways a progressive audience might be able to muster from the plan Biden laid out. John points out that the reviews from the general public were mostly favorable, with 71 percent of viewers feeling optimistic afterwards and 73 percent suggesting Biden would move the country in a positive direction. Viviana says she agrees that Biden seemed to be trying to pull the country together, although she wonders about the right-wing media criticizing Biden for a lack of bipartisanship — where was the demand for bipartisanship when they were in power, she wants to know?
The two also critiqued Republican Senator Tim Scott’s rebuttal presentation, in which he claimed to have never experienced racism and said that the United States is not a racist country. Viviana says she’s happy for him that he’s been so lucky, but suggests that Scott’s experience may not be universal among the African-American community.