It’s not what Biden said at the State of the Union that matters. It’s how he said it

As the nation’s political elite filed into the United States House of Representatives for this year’s State of the Union Address, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wasn’t expecting much from President Joe Biden. “I would love to take bets and hear from doctors on what kind of medical cocktail they’re giving him to be able to do this tonight,” Ms Greene, a Republican and staunch ally to former President Donald Trump, told The Independent as she entered the House.

Ms Greene had plenty of reason to make such a snide remark. Polling has consistently shown that most voters have serious doubts about whether Mr Biden, who turns 82 in November, could actually be up for the job of President.

(Those voters have the same concerns, however, about Mr Trump, according to the polls.)

Polling has also consistently shown the president trailing Ms Greene’s political benefactor, Mr Trump. A report from special counsel Robert Hur about Mr Biden’s handling of classified documents mentioned the president’s age and portrayed him as a senile man who could not remember the date of his eldest son Beau’s death.

But there were no signs of Grandpa Joe during his State of the Union on Thursday evening. Rather, Mr Biden chose to confront anxieties about his age head on and showed a side of himself that many political observers—including in his own party—thought had faded in his advanced years.

“Let me close with this: I know I may not look like it, but I’ve been around a while,” Mr Biden told the nation. “And when you get to my age certain things become clearer than ever before. I know the American story. Again and again, I’ve seen the contest between competing forces in the battle for the soul of our nation.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene at the State