US President Biden’s State of the Union address: Know timing, where to watch and more

US President Joe Biden is set to deliver his fourth State of the Union address Friday morning (Indian time) as he gears up to go against his Republican opponent and former President Donald Trump.

The address is an opportunity to highlight the country’s strong economy, push the wealthy Americans and large corporations to pay more in taxes, and try to ease voters’ concerns about his advanced age.

Biden’s annual address, an event that stems from the US Constitution’s requirement that a president reports information to Congress “from time to time” on the state of the union, will be held before a rare joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and a nationally televised audience.

How to watch the address by President Joe Biden

The State of the Union will be aired live on all major networks. It will also be streamed online by the White House and The Associated Press (AP). The speech starts at 9.00 pm ET (7.30 am IST).

Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, the first woman elected to represent the state in the Senate, will deliver the Republican response to Biden’s State of the Union. It is set to begin after the president ends his remarks, likely some time after 8.30 am IST.

The responses to the president’s State of the Union are much shorter than the speech before the joint session of Congress.

What to expect from Biden’s address

Biden’s address this year will be the third State of the Union that he has delivered since he assumed the presidency in 2021, and his fourth to a joint session of Congress.

The annual remarks serve as a vehicle for the president to lay out his policy accomplishments and priorities for the coming months, and provide him with what is likely to be his largest television audience between now and the Election Day.

Previous durations of the State of the Union addresses

• 2023: State of the Union, which took place on February 7, lasted 1 hour and 13 minutes, according to the American Presidency Project from University of California, Santa Barbara.
• 2022: Biden spoke for 1 hour, 1 minute and 50 seconds on March 1, 2022.
• 2021: His April, 28, 2021 address ran for 1 hour, 5 minutes and 8 seconds.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s remarks lasted a bit longer than Biden’s. For his 2020 State of the Union, on February 4, Trump spoke for 1 hour, 18 minutes and 4 seconds.

Polls show Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, closely tied in hotly-contested battleground states, where voting preferences can swing either to Republicans or Democrats.

Most US voters, however, are not enthusiastic about either or about a rematch between the two.

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