State of the Union: Biden will seek to ‘rally the world’ against Putin’s war in Ukraine

Biden's speech has taken on new significance with last week’s Russian invasion of Ukraine and nuclear saber-rattling by Vladimir Putin.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has earned praise for his efforts to rally European allies and other nations against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, will turn to uniting Americans in the State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

With the conflict in Ukraine raging, Biden intends to use the annual speech to stress the importance of countering Putin and push his domestic economic agenda, including reintroducing elements of his stalled Build Back Better program, administration officials said.

“Every State of Union speech also reflects a moment of time,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday. Biden, she said, will detail his efforts “to rally the world to stand up for democracy and against Russian aggression.”

Democrats are expected to have a difficult time holding control of the U.S. House of Representatives – and perhaps the Senate as well – in the Nov. 8 elections, analysts said, which would likely cripple Biden’s policy goals.

A rebound in Biden’s public standing would make the task of staying in power easier.

“The (speech) comes at a good time,” said John Geer, a political scientist and an expert in public opinion at Vanderbilt University. “He needs to grab the national stage and set a course that offers a brighter future.”

Biden should tout his work helping the world resist Putin’s advances, Geer said, while celebrating the effectiveness of vaccines and other mitigation measures that have brought about a sharp decline in COVID-19 cases and easing of guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Public opinion polls have shown Biden out of favor with the majority of Americans for months. The most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, taken last week, showed him at 43 per cent approval.