CNN political director David Chalian said Thursday on his network’s coverage of the State of the Union Address that President Joe Biden delivered a “reelection speech.”
Chalian said, “To your point about it being a political speech, there’s no doubt about it. It was a reelection speech wrapped in a State of the Union. But I found it was also a speech just reflective of our times. Nothing is as it once was in American politics. I think this speech, the demeanor from the folks in the House, the president going into raw politics, his calling out his predecessor all these times.”
He continued, “Yes. that’s unprecedented. It’s also unprecedented to be running against a guy who once served as president, who you defeated, who’s trying to come back. It’s also unprecedented that he’s facing all these trials and what occurred in this very chamber on January 6, all these things are — and I just think if we apply our sense of what State of the Union Addresses have been, that’s just not where our politics are anymore.”
Chalian added, “So while I know the Republicans will criticize him for being political here, it seems to me he actually gave a speech that is of this moment.”
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