Biden's SOTU was followed by a rebuttal from Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House press secretary under former President Donald Trump. Never Trump conservative Amanda Carpenter compares Biden's speech and Sanders' rebuttal in an article published by The Bulwark on February 8, and she has nothing good to say about the rebuttal.
Biden's speech, Carpenter explains, "boiled down to this: economy, economy, economy," and "was a little raucous."
"That's not to say Biden didn't stumble a little in his delivery," Carpenter observes. "He did, as he typically fumbles somewhat over his remarks — a fact often attributed to his longtime stutter. But Biden — who, at 80, is older than any previous president — parried with the hecklers in the chamber during his hour-plus speech in what, at times, felt like an impromptu, interactive performance. He almost seemed to enjoy it, too…. Theatrics aside, Biden accomplished his biggest task: showing everyone he's still got it."
The conservative pundit adds, "He did it mainly by touting his record — 'Unemployment rate at 3.4 percent, a fifty-year low' — and exhorting Congress to help him 'finish the job.'"
Carpenter goes on to say that while Biden focused heavily on "the economy and concrete issues," Sanders' rebuttal was a "deep plunge into dystopian culture wars."
"These annual canned rebuttals usually come off as tone-deaf," Carpenter argues, "but with Sanders, there was an additional, unexpected contrast with Biden. She spoke for a dreary 15 minutes — all scripted according to teleprompter, with no audience. Biden spoke for more than an hour, with a teleprompter in front of plenty of hostile Republicans. Biden, 80 years young, rolled with it, tackling every tough subject on his agenda, inviting Republicans to join him at every turn. Sanders, 40 years old, droned on, her entire speech devoted to demonizing Biden."
