What President Biden needs to say about his age and Trump in his State of the Union address

Grappling with negative approval ratings and trailing former President Trump in the latest polling average of their general election rematch, President Biden has a golden opportunity to try and turn the narrative around with eight months to go until the November showdown.

That high-stakes primetime moment comes Thursday evening, when the president will deliver a greatly anticipated and closely watched State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress.

"It's going to be a moment that's incredibly important to him," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday. "He's looking forward to ... talking about the accomplishments that he's made the last three years and also the vision that he has for this country."

With it far from certain that the president and Trump will face off in general election debates in the autumn, the speech may deliver Biden his largest national audience between now and the November election.

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It's not clear whether Biden will directly mention his Republican challenger in an address that will be repeatedly edited and fine-tuned until the moment the president arrives on Capitol Hill.

But Biden re-election campaign communications director Michael Tyler, pointing to the rematch with Trump, emphasized Tuesday that "I think the State of the Union Address is going to serve as another moment to further cement the choice in this election for the American electorate writ large."

At 81, Biden is the oldest president in the nation's history. And polls indicate a majority of Americans harbor serious questions about his physical and mental ability to handle another four years in the White House.

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