President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address

President Joe Biden on Thursday plans to offer a swipe at his presumptive general election opponent while also making implicit acknowledgement of his own age during his State of the Union address, offering a glimpse of how he’ll address the thorny topic that has become a backdrop to his campaign. 

“My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy. A future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor,” Biden will say, according to excerpts shared with CNN ahead of the speech. “Now some other people my age see a different story: An American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me.”

The reference to his age, which critics have raised as a weakness for Biden ahead of 2024’s general election matchup, reflects a more offensive tack for the president — last month, in an interview with comedian Seth Meyers, Biden told the late night host voters should not just consider how old a candidate is, but “how old (their) ideas are.”

At 81, Biden would be the oldest person elected president if he wins reelection in November, while Trump will turn 78 in June.

Vowing to restore Roe

Biden also plans to vow to “restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again” if Congress passes such a law, according to the excerpts.

“In its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court majority wrote, ‘Women are not without electoral or political power.’ No kidding,” Biden will say, according to the prepared remarks. “Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America.” 

The president plans to lean into the political potency of the issue of reproductive rights, by adding: “But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and won in 2022, 2023, and they will find out again in 2024.”

Taking credit for “greatest comeback story never told”

And Biden will work to take credit for a post-pandemic economic boom in his speech, even as many Americans still say in polls they feel sour about the state of the country and its economy.

“I came to office determined to get us through one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history. And we have. It doesn’t make the news, but in thousands of cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told,” Biden will say in his speech, according to advance excerpts.

The lines reflect what has been a persistent frustration for Biden and his team as the country emerged from the Covid pandemic: despite easing inflation and rising wages, few Americans say they feel the improvements and aren’t giving Biden credit.

In Thursday’s speech, Biden will say: “Let’s tell that story here and now. 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.”