Super Tuesday forecasts another presidential election between Biden and Trump.
On Mar. 5, U.S. citizens participated in Super Tuesday— the United States presidential primary election when the greatest number of states hold their primary elections and caucuses. The results of Super Tuesday are typically a good indicator of who will be the party’s presidential nominee.
16 states and one territory, including California, headed to the polls on Tuesday, making it the largest contest so far in the 2024 presidential primary. Alaska only held a Republican primary and Iowa and American-Samoa held only Democratic contests.
President Joe Biden is now the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party after winning 2,107 delegates (1, 968 delegates are needed to win the nomination). Former president Donald Trump is the presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party after obtaining 1,255 delegates (1, 215 are needed to win the nomination).
Two days following Super Tuesday, President Biden gave his State of the Union Address on Mar. 7 to the 118th Congress. This was Biden’s third State of the Union Address and fourth speech to a joint session of Congress.
The new House Speaker, Mike Johnson (R-LA), formally invited Biden on Jan. 6 to address the joint session of Congress. This address marked the first time in history that a president gave three consecutive State of the Union Addresses in front of three different House Speakers.
The 2024 State of the Union Address gave Biden a chance to address specific issues like the U.S.-Mexico border crisis, Russia and Ukraine, the economy and the Israel-Hamas war.
Despite addressing those issues, the subject most talked about at the address was House Speaker Mike Johnson asking his Republican lawmakers to show some decorum before the speech. This statement was made after Biden faced several Republican hecklers at last year’s State of the Union Address.
Republican congressional members ignored Johnson’s request as Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) shouted “Lies!” just minutes into Biden’s address. The shout was stimulated by Biden’s statement on the Trump administration’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joining in, Rep. Marjorie Green Taylor (R-Ga.) shouted “Tell Hunter to pay his taxes!” when President Biden spoke about increasing taxes on the wealthiest citizens. Reps. Orden and Taylor were not the first to heckle President Biden. At his last address, Biden was heckled throughout the speech, prompting House Speaker Johnson to make the request earlier this year.
Johnson, who sat behind Biden throughout the entirety of the address, also dismissed his own request as he was seen rolling his eyes and shaking his head at some of the statements made by President Biden.
As questions have been raised about President Biden’s ability to serve because of his age and energy, Biden presented his address carefully. He came out fired up to speak and had an energetic speech that was shown to be quite different from some of his more subdued efforts.