Plead to the Union

Just 38% of US adults approve of how Biden is handling his job as president while 61% disapprove, a recent poll by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed. The survey also said that 63% of US adults are not very or not at all confident in Biden’s mental capability to serve as president.

The US President is scheduled to deliver his third State of the Union address on Thursday. It is predicted that he will use his time to try and appeal to voters, as the speech comes on the heels of Super Tuesday, which has all but guaranteed a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump in the presidential election this year.

White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients said on Wednesday that Biden will also use the speech as an opportunity to highlight his agenda for a potential second term.

"Lowering costs, continuing to make people's lives better by investing in childcare, eldercare, paid family and medical leave, continued progress on student debt," Zients said. "But I think importantly, the president is also going to call for restoring Roe v. Wade and giving women freedom over their healthcare. And he'll talk about protecting, not taking away, freedoms in other areas, as well as voting rights."

He may also urge Congress to pass a $118 billion national security agreement that includes funding for Israel and Ukraine as well as resources and policies that will address the issues at the Mexico-US border.

There seemed, at one point, to be a unanimous agreement on passing the bill between both aisles, but Biden and other democrats have accused Trump of commanding Republicans to torpedo the bill in order to help himself in the presidential race. The supplemental first passed in the Senate on a bipartisan basis with 70 votes but requires further action to be taken by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Biden is also expected to defend his administration’s stance regarding the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Israel and the US have maintained that the military action they have taken against Hamas is in self-defense, but organizations, constituents, lawmakers, entire countries and others have criticized the assault on Palestinians as being too aggressive, and have accused the Israeli military of carrying out a genocide against Palestinians.

The nation’s oldest president is also expected to try and quell voters’ concerns regarding his age. But the president has made a handful of gaffes in his speeches throughout his first term. Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, published last month, was also incredibly shameful for Biden as it described him as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”. And just last week, Biden confused the president of Egypt with the president of Mexico.