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White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients<\/strong> had promised<\/a> Americans would see a \u201cvery energized president\u201d in Thursday night\u2019s State of the Union\u2014and Joe Biden<\/strong> certainly came out swinging. In an at-times fiery speech, the president laced into MAGA Republicans, Supreme Court conservatives, and especially 2024 rival Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2014though he pointedly declined to mention his predecessor by name. \u201cMy lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy, a future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality,\u201d Biden said. \u201cTo respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSome other people my age,\u201d he added of the former president, \u201csee a different story.\u201d<\/p>\n Biden sought to contrast the two visions he and his predecessor represent: \u201cThe issue facing our nation isn\u2019t how old we are\u2014it\u2019s how old our ideas are,\u201d the president said, directly addressing the age issue that has hung over his reelection campaign. \u201cYou can\u2019t lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back. To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future of what America can and should be.\u201d<\/p>\n Biden outlined his economic accomplishments and vision, including with a call to raise taxes on billionaires and a shout-out to unions. He also renewed demands for an assault weapons ban and for climate action; decried attacks on reproductive rights and IVF in the wake of the Supreme Court\u2019s Dobbs<\/em> decision; and attempted \u00a0to thread the needle on the Middle East, expressing support for Israel while also pushing for a temporary ceasefire, more aid to Gaza, and a two-state solution. \u201cHumanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip,\u201d Biden said of Israel. \u201cProtecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But his overarching theme Thursday was that of his 2020 and 2024 campaigns: threats to democracy at home and abroad. \u201cDemocracy must be defended,\u201d Biden said early on in the speech, pressing Congress to pass aid to Ukraine for its defense against Russia and condemning the ongoing attempts to \u201cbury the truth of January 6th.\u201d<\/p>\n House Speaker Mike Johnson<\/strong>, who helped lead some of those 2020 subversion efforts, smirked and rolled his eyes as he sat behind Biden. After all, it was<\/em> that kind of night: In addition to Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/strong> in her red Trump hat, there was Congressman Troy Nehls<\/strong>, clad in a tee-shirt bearing the former president\u2019s mugshot. There was expelled Republican Representative George Santos<\/strong>, simply attending in order to announce<\/a> the congressional campaign nobody asked for. And there were, of course, repeated jeers from the Republican side of the aisle, which Biden mostly succeeded in batting back. \u201cOh, you don\u2019t like that bill, huh?\u201d he said, as he sparred with GOP hecklers who helped kill the more stringent border measure they, themselves, had been demanding. \u201cI\u2019ll be damned. That\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a solid address\u2014especially compared with the bizarre Republican rebuttal Alabama Senator Katie Britt<\/strong> gave afterward\u2014and he delivered it with vigor. Will it erase concerns about his age<\/a>, or smooth over the divisions<\/a> that threaten his 2020 coalition, or cure Americans\u2019 apparent amnesia<\/a> about the Trump years? Perhaps not. But it was certainly the kind of Biden the public should see more of.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n