Watch Live: ‘I will not back down’ Biden declares in fiery State of the Union address

A
spirited

President
Joe
Biden
delivered
a
fiery,
partisan
State
of
the
Union
address
on
Thursday,
fit
for
an
election
year
with
enormously
high
stakes
in
a
divided
nation.

“Not
since President
Lincoln and
the Civil
War have freedom and democracy been
under
assault
here
at
home as
they
are
today,”
Biden
said
early
in
the
speech.

“What
makes
our
moment rare is
that freedom and democracy are
under
attack,
both
at
home
and
overseas,
at
the
very
same
time,”
he
said.

“Overseas, [President
Vladimir]
Putin of Russia is
on
the
march,
invading Ukraine and
sowing
chaos throughout Europe
and
beyond. If
anybody
in
this
room
thinks
Putin
will
stop
at
Ukraine,
I
assure
you, he
will
not,”
the
president
said
to
cheers
from
Democrats
and
a
applause
to
smattering
of
Republicans.

“My
message to
President
Putin is
simple. We
will
not
walk
away. We will
not
bow
down. I will
not
bow
down,”
Biden
said.

The
president
also
celebrated
Sweden’s
ascension
into
NATO
earlier
in
the
day,
as
Swedish
Prime
Minister
Ulf
Kristersson
sat
to
the
left
of
First
Lady
Jill
Biden
in
her
guest
box.

On
domestic
policy,
Biden
was
even
more
confrontational
than
he
was
on
foreign
affairs,
repeatedly
calling
out
Republicans
and
sparring
live
on
TV
with
some
of
the
loudest
voices
in
the
GOP
caucus.

“In
November, my
team
began
serious
negotiations
with
a
bipartisan
group
of
senators.
The
result
was
a bipartisan
bill with
the toughest set
of border security reforms
we’ve
ever
seen in
this
country,”
said
Biden.

As
Republicans
booed
the
bill
that
they
agreed
to
in
the
Senate,
but
then
sunk
in
the
House,
Biden
turned
to
his
left,
where
Republican
members
were
seated.

“Oh,
you
don’t
think
so?
You
don’t
like
that
bill,
huh?
Darn,
that’s
amazing,”
he
said.

“Because
that
bipartisan
deal
would
hire
1,500
more
border
security
agents
and
officers,
100
more
immigration
judges
to
help
tackle
a
backload
of
2
million
cases.”

This
is
a
developing
story,
please
check
back
for
updates.