The State of the Union Was Rowdy for Biden’s Election-Year Speech

The state of the union as President Biden appeared before a divided Congress on Thursday night was rowdy.

Mr. Biden delivered a feisty, shouty, confrontational speech. Republicans jeered when he challenged them on immigration and economic matters, and he appeared to relish and even encourage the unscripted back and forth as he made his formal address on Capitol Hill.

Democrats cheered loudly and often in support of his policies, giving the impression of a party fully behind — and even excited about — its aged presidential nominee. The only glimmers of Democratic dissent came from a few progressives who sat stone-faced and held up signs demanding a lasting cease-fire between Israel and Hamas during portions of the speech.

It all unfolded as former Representative George Santos of New York, the serial fabulist who was expelled from Congress by his own colleagues in December, made a splashy return to the House floor that he had vowed only months ago to never visit again. Mr. Santos, dressed in a crystal-encrusted collar and sparkling shoes, even made his own news during Mr. Biden’s speech. He announced on social media that he planned to make another run for Congress, this time from New York’s First Congressional District.

It was, in short, a raucous night for a typically staid Washington tradition.

Speaker Mike Johnson, presiding over his first State of the Union since his improbable elevation last fall, could not seem to decide what to do with his face, alternating between pursing his lips, smiling, frowning, arching his eyebrows and shaking his head ruefully as the president spoke.