Takeaways from Biden’s State of the Union address: Combative attacks on a foe with no name

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State of the Union address is one of the durable set pieces of the presidency, a forum that almost always favors the speaker in a one-way conversation with millions of Americans.

Most of the speeches are instantly dissected, and almost as quickly forgotten. But this is a most unusual year, with President Joe Biden needing to make the case not simply that his policies warrant a a second term, but that he has the personal capacity at age 81 to do the job.

He laid out the clear contours of the campaign ahead, criticizing former President Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection and going after the Supreme Court, with justices present, over its ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Also, the shrinking size of a Snickers bar.

Here are some key takeaways from the speech.

HE WHO WON’T BE NAMED

Biden opened the speech with fiery denunciations of the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, then singled out Republicans in the chamber and GOP foe Trump. But he refused to utter Trump’s name, saying that “my predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about Jan. 6.”

He wrapped that into a larger theme that democracy is threatened like no time since the Civil War, signaling a clear line of attack he will use against the man he would not name.

He also criticized “my predecessor” for Trump’s assertion that Russian President Vladimir Putin can “do whatever the hell he wants” with respect to NATO allies, and he implored Congress to pass additional aid for Ukraine.

Speaking with a vigor that his supporters have said has been lacking, he set up a contrast between his internationalist view of the world and the more isolationist leaning of his “predecessor.”

Biden used almost the entirety of the speech to