Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) praised President Biden’s State of the Union speech and mentioned that he spent a lot of time meeting with lawmakers and guests at the Capitol on Thursday because he is typically isolated from the outside world.
After his speech on Thursday night, Biden stayed and talked for a long time after most people had left the House chamber.
“I thought he would do a great job. That audience is his comfort zone,” she said on a CNN panel on Friday. “And I wasn’t surprised at how long he stayed because, you know, he is isolated from the outside world, and they don’t allow him to talk to people and these are all his friends.”
Biden, 81, has been facing more and more questions about his ability before this year’s election. He delivered an impassioned State of the Union speech Thursday night, addressing a sharply divided Congress.
While discussing a range of policy issues, Biden — who is getting ready to compete against former President Trump in the November election — also threw out one-liners and occasionally veered from the prepared speech.
Dingell said he did a “great job” in the speech by reminding voters of “the things that we’ve accomplished” during his presidency, as well as outlining “his vision for the future.”
Biden took several swipes at Republicans during the speech. Without naming Trump specifically, he criticized his predecessor for overturning Roe v. Wade and aligning with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Michigan Democrat argued it was “very clear” that Republicans were uncomfortable last night when a few GOP members heckled Biden and how they promptly left the floor after the speech ended.
Dingell said it was a “very outstanding speech” that demonstrated a “clear, bold difference” between Biden and Trump.
