President Joe Biden delivered a shouty State of the Union on Thursday night. Whether the best is yet to come or the worst is still ahead is difficult to say based on Biden’s speech, both the intelligible and unintelligible parts.

Biden wasn’t without those looking to steal the spotlight. Throughout Thursday night’s speech, former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP candidate, was rebutting and reacting live via posts on Truth Social. Per usual, the Republican party organized a State of the Union response, delivered by Sen. Katie Britt. But, no disrespect to the Alabama Senator, all eyes turned to Tucker Carlson in the aftermath of Biden’s speech. For the first time since leaving Fox News, Carlson hosted a live broadcast reacting to the president’s words.

After taking the night off Super Tuesday, Thursday night might have been Biden’s single best opportunity before election day some eight months away to convince Americans he does not only deserve to serve another four years, but that he’s actually capable of serving out a second term. Despite—or maybe because of—whatever drug cocktail was put in Biden’s ice cream Thursday night, Biden failed.

Prior to the speech, the White House promised a speech that would show “the president’s vision for the future is very optimistic,” in the words of White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients. What Americans heard as soon as the president opened his mouth, however, was a hawkish president stammering down the warpath at home and abroad. He began every sentence shouting into the microphone hoping to project vigor, only to find himself incapable of maintaining the volume and clarity of speech.

“That was quite an experience watching that,” Carlson said to begin his broadcast. “That was possibly the darkest, most un-American speech ever given by an American president. In fact it wasn’t a speech. It was a rant entirely lacking in decency or generosity to his fellow Americans.”

“The whole thing was weird,” Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Even on the ultra-rehearsed lines the Biden White House released ahead of time, Biden couldn’t deliver. When it came to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Biden said, “Look, in it’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court majority wrote the following, and with all due respect justices, ‘women are not without electoral... electoral power... Excuse me, electoral or political power.’ You’re about to realize just how much you….” The president’s words became indiscernible.

What the president meant to say, per the White House:

In its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court majority wrote “Women are not without electoral or political power.” No kidding. Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America. But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and won in 2022, 2023, and they will find out again in 2024. If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again.

When the House Sergeant at Arms announced the arrival of the president, a beleaguered Biden entered the House chamber—and he was late. Trump was quick to make note of Biden’s tardiness. “The President is very substantially late,” Trump said on Truth social. “Not a good start, but let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure he had very important things to do, but he is just now getting into the car. They will have to drive very, very quickly, you just don’t want to be late to the State of the Union. They will need Mario Andretti to be at the wheel of the Limo.”

Biden’s lateness was the least of his worries, however. His approval rating is just 36 percent with a net favorability 25 points underwater. Less than a quarter of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction. Biden trails Trump in the polls in every major swing state, and by a 5-point margin, Americans say they’d vote for Biden’s rival over him—which is why an even wider margin, 9 percent, think Trump will win in November. Nearly three-fourths of Americans simply believe Biden is just too old for the job.

Biden’s central pitch to keep his current address of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave? He’s a wartime president. World War III has already begun, and his presidential campaign is the America’s campaign to take democracy all over the world by force.

“In January 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt came to this chamber to speak to the nation. He said, ‘I address you at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union.’ Hitler was on the march. War was raging in Europe. President Roosevelt’s purpose was to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this was no ordinary moment. Freedom and democracy were under assault in the world,” Biden opened. Today, “it is we who face an unprecedented moment in the history of the Union,” Biden claimed. “What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack, both at home and overseas, at the very same time.”

And though Americans tuned in to hear the state of Union, they first heard a speech on the state of Ukraine—a country whose borders Biden evidently cares about more than his own.

“Overseas, Putin of Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond,” Biden said. “If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not. But Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself. That is all Ukraine is asking. They are not asking for American soldiers.”

The president then claimed that “there are no American soldiers at war in Ukraine,” even though there are. When Biden told Americans he’s “determined to keep it that way,” one wonders what he means.

“Assistance for Ukraine is being blocked by those who want us to walk away from our leadership in the world,” Biden continued. “I say this to Congress: we must stand up to Putin. Send me the Bipartisan National Security Bill. History is watching. If the United States walks away now, it will put Ukraine at risk, Europe at risk, the free world at risk, emboldening others who wish to do us harm.”

Behind the president, House Speaker Mike Johnson nodded.

Carlson called Biden’s Ukraine-centered opening “deranged”:

We’re doing this not because it helps us, but because foreign interests are demanding that we do it. America is being used, as we so often have been, and the result of all this is that the world is now closer to nuclear war at this moment than at any time in history, closer than it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis. We have no idea where this is going. You never do once people start to die once wars begin.

The sentiment Carlson expressed is why Americans are increasingly skeptical of the claim that continued involvement in Ukraine—to the tune of billions of dollars and thousands of weapons, shells, and other pieces of military equipment—is in America’s interests. Even the Biden administration seems to have its doubts—the line has quietly shifted from “as long as it takes” to “as long as we can.” Biden seemed to reverse himself again: “We will not walk away [from Ukraine],” said the president.

“This is crazy talk,” Carlson said. “There’s no explanation of what the goal is here. There’s lie after lie. Ukraine can stop Russia. No, it can’t. This has gone on for over two years. NATO was stronger than ever. No it’s not. NATO is on its way to collapse, as is the economy of Western Europe. For not one sentence did Joe Biden explain what the goal of this exercise is, when we’ll know we've won and what the future should look like.”

An hour would pass for Biden to address the second war America finds itself entangled in—and the one that poses the most significant challenge to Biden’s Democratic coalition.

The White House may very well have delayed the state of the union speech hoping to have a ceasefire agreement in the Israel-Gaza war in hand. Negotiations in Cairo are ongoing, but Biden is struggling to balance the pro-Israel Democratic establishment with the pro-Palestine progressive base. As of late, the Biden administration has leaned towards the progressives, with Biden, Harris, Blinken and other top officials meeting with Netanyahu’s rival, Benny Gantz—a move that reportedly infuriated the Israeli government—telling Gantz the conditions in Gaza are “unacceptable and unsustainable.” 

Nevertheless, throngs of pro-Palestine protestors took to the streets of the nation’s capital to condemn Biden’s Israel policy; thousands more have cast protest votes over the same issue in the Democratic primary in key states.

When Biden came to address the Middle East, he first took a strong pro-Israel line. Biden said the war started because of “a massacre by the terrorist group Hamas” and that “Israel has a right to go after Hamas.” 

“Israel has an added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population,” Biden said before a strong pivot. “But Israel also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.”

“This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined,” the president claimed, citing 30,000 Gazan dead. “Nearly 2 million more Palestinians under bombardment or displaced. Homes destroyed, neighborhoods in rubble, cities in ruin. Families without food, water, medicine. It’s heartbreaking.”

Then Biden unveiled he’s directing “the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters.”

“This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day,” Biden continued. He affirmed, however, that “No U.S. boots will be on the ground.” If that’s the case, one wonders how the pier will operate and who will be operating it.

“Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the cross fire,” Biden implored.

“This is so reckless that it qualifies as suicidal,” Carlson said of the Biden administration’s foreign policy. “And maybe they are, but the rest of us aren't.”

While Biden made it clear his first priority is the state of Ukraine and not the state of the Union, the president suggested World War III isn’t just a foreign war but a civil war, too. “Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today,” Biden claimed. 

“History is watching,” Biden said in reference to Ukraine aid, “just like history watched three years ago on January 6.”

“Insurrectionists stormed this very Capitol and placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy,” Biden claimed, calling January 6, 2021 the “darkest of days.”

Biden didn’t only declare war on his opponent and opposition party. He declared war on the Constitution, America’s republican form of government, its checks and balances and the other branches of government. “Many of you in this Chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom. My God, what freedoms will you take away next?” Biden asked rhetorically. 

“In its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court majority wrote, ‘Women are not without electoral or political power.’ No kidding,” Biden claimed. “Clearly, those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America. They found out though when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and won in 2022, 2023, and they will find out again, in 2024.”

“He is so angry and crazy!” Trump said on Truth. “THIS IS LIKE A SHOUTING MATCH, EVERY LINE IS BEING SHOUTED,” the former president said in another.

Despite supposedly fatal flaws in the American system and a nation teetering on the brink of Civil War, Biden shouted into the microphone, “The state of our union is strong and getting stronger.”

“It doesn’t make the news but in thousands of cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told. So let’s tell that story here and now,” Biden said. “America’s comeback is building a future of American possibilities, building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down, investing in all of America, in all Americans to make sure everyone has a fair shot and we leave no one behind!”

The president turned to the economy to make the case. “I inherited an economy that was on the brink. Now our economy is the envy of the world!”

“I believe in America! I believe in you, the American people. You’re the reason I’ve never been more optimistic about our future!” 

The jury is out as to whether the American people believe in Biden, however—especially when it comes to the economy Biden was so keen to boast about.

Just 26 percent of Americans say the economy is performing excellent or good, while 23 percent think economic conditions are fair and 51 percent believe it is poor. Inflation has slowed, but remains higher than the increasingly-nostalgic Trump era. The most fundamental goods—housing prices, healthcare costs, gas, groceries—have put a real pinch on Americans with families or hoping to start one. Though the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says unemployment is down and non-farm payrolls are up, 5 million workers are still missing in the post-Covid labor market. Full-time job growth remains flat. More Americans—60 percent of whom are living paycheck to paycheck—are picking up second or third jobs to make ends meet. Real hourly wages lag behind pre-Covid levels. Household income follows the trend.

Where are the Biden economy’s jobs going? To millions of migrants who have poured into the country, legally or illegally, across the southern border, of course. Foreign-born employment is up 2.8 million from pre-Covid levels, and even the BLS has had to admit its figures indicate at least some infiltration by illegals of the American labor market. It’s almost a sure bet the BLS is underestimating the impact of illegal migrant labor.

In Trump’s words: “Why doesn’t he bring up East Palestine and the other Towns all throughout America that he has left behind, and destroyed with Inflation?”

But Biden was more concerned with potato chips and Snickers than the southern border. “Snack companies think you won’t notice when they charge you just as much for the same size bag but with fewer chips in it,” the president shouted. “Pass Senator Bob Casey’s bill to put a stop to shrinkflation!” His predecessor was quick to make note: “Biden talked about the SNICKERS Bars, before he talked about the Border!”

Biden lost steam half way through his speech. “THE DRUGS ARE WEARING OFF!” Trump claimed. 

Under the strain of the lengthy speech, the president simply couldn’t manage to organize his thoughts on immigration—the current number one issue for Americans. Biden would have the American people believe the border has never been more secure. “Unlike my predecessor, on my first day in office I introduced a comprehensive plan to fix our immigration system, secure the border, and provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and so much more,” the president claimed. Then, an unexpected surge of urgency: “We can fight about the border, or we can fix it. I’m ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now!” Biden shouted.

“It took him over 40 minutes to get to Immigration, and then said nothing about it!” Trump truthed. Another: “His Border Bill is a Disaster, it would let at least 5,000 Migrants in a day, and that is one of the better aspects of it!”

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“The most interesting fact of the speech was the emphasis,” Carlson said. “There was not a meaningful word for the entire duration about the things that actually matter to people who live here, like crime, or inflation, or fentanyl, or the foreign army now occupying our country. But Biden doesn't care. There was no upside for you in any of the things that he said.”

“To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future of what America can and should be,” Biden said. “Tonight you’ve heard mine.” The president shouldn’t be so sure. That didn't stop Rep. Jerry Nadler, a man who has had his own problems with aging in office, from telling Biden after the speech, “nobody's going to talk about cognitive impairment now.”

To which the president replied: “I kind of wish sometimes I was cognitively impaired.”