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Joe Biden vowed in his first State of the Union address to defend democracy threatened by war in Europe, pledging to punish Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine, while also promising to tame rising inflation and return the nation to a “more normal” state as the coronavirus pandemic appears to wane.
Speaking before a joint session of congress on Tuesday night, at a perilous moment for his presidency and the world, Biden accused the Russian president of trying to “shake the foundations of the free world” with a “premeditated and unprovoked” invasion of its Democratic neighbor.
Related: State of the Union takeaways: Biden talks tough on Putin and touts Covid progress
But he said the Russian leader had “badly miscalculated”, underestimating the response of the US and its allies, including ordinary Ukrainians.
“He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over,” Biden said. “Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined … Putin was wrong. We were ready.”
The war in eastern Europe pushed foreign policy to the forefront of Biden’s hour-long speech, traditionally a moment for the president to tout his achievements and build support at home.
From the wood-paneled House chamber, now a reminder of the fragility of democracy at home following the 6 January 2021 insurrection by supporters of Donald Trump, Biden declared that in “the battle between democracy and autocracy, democracies are rising to the moment”.
Speaking to an anxious nation, Biden detailed the administration’s efforts to prevent an invasion of Ukraine by declassifying intelligence and making Moscow’s plans public while claiming credit for rallying a global response, to impose crippling sanctions on Russian banks, industries, companies, elite oligarchs and Putin himself.
As part of the White House’s efforts to punish Putin, Biden announced on Tuesday night that the US would shut its airspace to Russian aircraft, following similar decisions by European Union nations and Canada, and would seek to mitigate the consequences of isolating oil-rich Russia by agreeing with other world powers to release 60m barrels of oil from their strategic reserves.
“When dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos,” Biden warned.
The war in Ukraine brought rare bipartisanship to the House chamber, where members of both parties rose to applaud Biden when he disparaged Putin. Hailing the “fearlessness” and the “iron will” of the Ukrainian people, Biden introduced the visibly emotional Ukrainian ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova. He asked the chamber to stand with him and send “unmistakable signal”, a message of solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
In his address, traditionally one of the most widely viewed speeches a president makes, Biden sought to assure Americans demoralized after two years of the pandemic and the ensuing economic and social consequences, and now rattled by a land war in Europe.
“I want you to know that we are going to be OK,” the president said.
Biden spoke before daybreak in Ukraine, where Russia’s missiles rained down on cities across the country, killing civilians as an armored Russian military convoy advanced toward the capital, Kyiv. Between rehearsals of his address on Tuesday, Biden spoke by phone to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“Last year Covid-19 kept us apart,” Biden said, surveying the chamber filled with lawmakers, cabinet officials and the justices of the Supreme Court. “This year we are finally together again.”
Biden also highlighted his nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the first Black woman to serve on the US supreme court, while praising the service of retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, whom she would replace on the bench.
Related: Tackling inflation is ‘top priority’, says Biden in State of the Union address
In a hopeful sign of the virus’s retreat, Biden arrived without a mask and hugged and clasped hands with attendees as he made his way to the rostrum. The chamber was nearly full for the first time since the pandemic began, with all 535 members invited to attend. Mask and vaccine requirements were dropped, but lawmakers had to test negative for the virus before entering the chamber.
Occasionally a venue for protest, the State of the Union this year presented an opportunity for lawmakers to show their solidarity with Ukraine, wearing emblems of yellow and blue. Though there were scattered boos from Republicans when Biden addressed his domestic agenda, chants of “USA” resounded after Biden touted the revitalization of American manufacturing.
In the Republican rebuttal to the president’s state of the union address, Kim Reynolds, the governor of Iowa, assailed Biden as a weak leader whose foreign policy failures emboldened Russia.
Even as he addressed the crisis abroad, Biden acknowledged concerns over inflation and the prolonged pandemic.
He noted that Americans were “tired, frustrated, and exhausted” by the pandemic, declaring that the US had reached a “new moment” in the fight against Covid-19.
And with his sweeping social policy package stalled in the Senate, Biden urged Congress to pass some of its most popular components, which he said would ease the pain of inflation by lowering the cost of childcare, healthcare and prescription drugs.
In rat-a-tat fashion, Biden unveiled several policy proposals and initiatives on a host of issues, including to invest in clean energy, improve supply chains, protect nursing home residents, and address mental health, to name only a few.
He expressed optimism that the country was emerging stronger and more resilient than ever.
But his confidence was tempered by public polling, which has recorded a nation deeply pessimistic about the future and unhappy with his leadership.
“We are stronger today than we were a year ago,” Biden said in closing. “And we will be stronger a year from now than we are today. Now is our moment to meet and overcome the challenges of our time – and we will.”
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