Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech really highlighted more about the state of the Republican Congress, and that state is decidedly raucous. As Biden delivered his spiel, he sparred verbally with (dis)honorable hecklers, who often interrupted, like Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Biden made some cursory appeals to bipartisanship, even though neither he nor the caucus of new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy really expects the slim Republican majority to find much common cause with the president, highlighted by their insistence on launching into a number of harebrained and nakedly political probes — case in point, yesterday’s House hearing on the ever-present Hunter Biden laptop obsession (see our adjacent editorial).
The notion that yelling at the president during a formal address would be considered shocking to the degree of receiving widespread bipartisan condemnation and requiring an official apology seems quaint, as Greene is proud of her rudeness. Yet it was just 13 years ago in the very same chamber that Rep. Joe Wilson’s “you lie!” exclamation during a Barack Obama address became national news and the most-talked about moment from the night.