President Joe Biden is expected to huddle with his senior advisers at Camp David in the coming days to fine tune and rehearse his State of the Union address, a high-stakes moment as he looks to convince voters to give him a second term in the White House.
Biden and his team are drafting a speech heavy on economic populism, aides said, with calls for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy – an attempt to draw a sharp contrast with Republicans and their likely presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Biden will also push for lowering health care costs and discuss his efforts to go after drug manufacturers to lower the cost of prescription medications — all issues his advisers believe can help buoy what have been sagging economic approval ratings.
Depending on whether Biden and Trump debate each other in the fall — neither candidate has committed to the three traditional face-offs — Thursday’s speech could amount to the president’s largest television audience before November’s vote, making this year’s edition of the annual address perhaps the most important of his presidency thus far.
Aides view Thursday’s speech as a critical opportunity for the president to tout his accomplishments in office and lay out his plans for another four years in the nation’s top job. Even though viewership has declined over the years, the yearly speech reliably draws tens of millions of households.
Also looming large over Biden’s primetime address is the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which has consumed much of the president’s time and attention over the past few months.
