ABC’s post-State of the Union analysis made it very clear how hard the network was going to work to help get President Biden reelected in November. Chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl and senior national correspondent Terry Moran did a lot of the cheerleading for President Biden’s bitter and angry screed at the American people.
World News Tonight anchor David Muir teed Karl up to gush about how often Biden took on former President Trump in his speech. “Jon it was very striking. Taking on Donald Trump but not my name. How many times did he say ‘predecessor’ tonight?” he wondered.
Karl proclaimed: “This was a great night for Joe Biden.” And despite the address being highly political, something that wouldn’t have sat well with them if the parties were reversed, he loved it:
And this was much more a campaign speech than a State of the Union address. And you saw that in how he repeatedly took on Donald Trump! By my count, by our count, 16 times that he either say, “my predecessor,” or “the former president,” or “other people my age,” referring to Donald Trump.
Very direct attacks, the most powerful one, the very first one, when he comes out and he first invokes Ronald Reagan, who told the Russians, who told the Soviets, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” And then he said compared to Donald Trump who tells Putin, “Do whatever the hell you want.”
“Very pointed, the kind of campaign-style speech you just never have seen in a State of the Union. But I think very effective,” Karl boasted.
About 10 minutes later, Moran was stoked by how Biden had supposedly put Democratic Party fears about his age to rest. “A lot of Democrats over the past few weeks have been panicking. I’ll bet the vast majority of them feel better tonight. Because the President did hit hard,” he touted.
“You can talk about his performance all you want,” he scoffed at critics, going on to laud Biden for going back to the “old-time religion” on the “Democratic agenda”:
But I think more importantly, what he hit. This was the old-time religion, the middle-class, working-class, labor-Democrat agenda. And he reached for it again and again and again, both in terms of the values. That line, “You can't love your country only when you win.” The best line of the speech.
“Fair play and decency are bedrock values in the middle class,” Moran said. “No matter who people voted for, the notion that you don't love your country if your guys lose doesn't sit well with them. And then right across that economic agenda, hitting again and again and again, middle-class, middle-class values.”
Someone should tell that the sore losers in the Democratic Party and the liberal media who couldn’t mentally handle the 2000 and 2016 election results.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC State of the Union
March 7, 2024
10:37:21 p.m. Eastern(…)
DAVID MUIR: Jon it was very striking. Taking on Donald Trump but not my name. How many times did he say “predecessor" tonight?
JON KARL: Hey look, this was a great night for Joe Biden. And this was much more a campaign speech than a State of the Union address. And you saw that in how he repeatedly took on Donald Trump! By my count, by our count, 16 times that he either say, “my predecessor” or “the former president,” or “other people my age,” referring to Donald Trump.
Very direct attacks, the most powerful one, the very first one, when he comes out and he first invokes Ronald Reagan, who told the Russians, who told the Soviets, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” And then he said compared to Donald Trump who tells Putin, “do whatever the hell you want.”
Very pointed, the kind of campaign-style speech you just never have seen in a State of the Union. But I think very effective.
(…)
10:46:54 p.m. Eastern
TERRY MORAN: A lot of Democrats over the past few weeks have been panicking. I’ll bet the vast majority of them feel better tonight. Because the President did hit hard. You can talk about his performance all you want. But I think more importantly, what he hit. This was the old time religion, the middle-class, working-class, labor-Democrat agenda. And he reached for it again and again and again, both in terms of the values. That line, “you can't love your country only when you win.” The best line of the speech.
Fair play and decency are bedrock values in the middle-class. No matter who people voted for, the notion that you don't love your country if your guys lose doesn't sit well with them. And then right across that economic agenda, hitting again and again and again, middle-class, middle-class values.
(…)
