Battenfeld: Biden draws smattering of applause in speech before Congress and nation

Now we know what a smattering of applause sounds like.

That’s all President Biden could get in the House chamber on Wednesday night as he addressed the nation and just 200 masked lawmakers and others.

This was not an inspiring speech and compared with former President Donald Trump it was downright boring. The only suspense was over whether Biden could get himself to pronounce “escalation.”

Because of coronavirus concerns, most lawmakers, even Democrats, couldn’t snag a ticket to the speech and so were denied a chance to suck up to Biden.

Because of the empty feeling in the House chamber, it’s unlikely Biden did much selling to Americans of his several trillion dollars worth of jobs, tax hikes on the wealthy and infrastructure improvement plans.

In a sparsely populated House chamber, Biden tried to give the speech an air of presidential power but it was difficult when he kept stepping on applause lines and stumbling through words.

No thunderous applause or loud cheers — it sounded a little hollow. Even Elizabeth Warren was muzzled.

When giving speeches like these, Trump would soak in the applause, nodding his head in approval. Biden acted like he couldn’t wait to get the speech over with — a feeling many Americans probably could sympathize with.

Vice President Kamala Harris was also a star of the night, even though she didn’t speak. She nodded her head whenever Biden made a point and looked a little overeager to please.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi looked like she just wanted to take a nap.

Trump wasn’t in the House chamber but his non-presence was clear as Biden sought to claim credit for the nation’s recovery from coronavirus all by himself.

Biden asserted that since he was inaugurated, deaths from COVID-19 among seniors had declined by 80% and that the vaccination program was “one of the greatest logistical achievements” in the nation’s history.

The program was actually launched under Trump but Biden of course didn’t mention that.

It certainly was no surprise Biden sought to be the anti-Trump on Wednesday night as he addressed Congress and the nation.

“America is moving — moving forward,” he said.

Moving forward from Trump is what he meant.

The president in the last 100 days has tried whenever possible to reverse Trump’s policies and on Wednesday claimed he was responsible for creating more new jobs than any other president.

That’s of course because the nation is reopening from the dark days last year when COVID caused a massive lockdown, triggering hundreds of thousands of layoffs and lost jobs.

Biden also glossed over problems in his administration like the immigration crisis. He never even mentioned it in the first half of his speech.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2PCWD68