State of the Union: Freedom and democracy ‘under attack at home and overseas’, Joe Biden warns
Joe Biden has said freedom and democracy are “under attack” both in the US and abroad as he gave one of the most important speeches of his presidency.
In his State of the Union address, the US president appealed to Congress to continue supporting Ukraine in its war effort against Russia, saying “history is watching.”
He warned of the potency of Russian President Vladimir Putin and “assured” his audience the Kremlin would not stop at just attacking Ukraine.
Biden avoids fluffing his lines but fails to heal America’s rifts
Speaking in the House chamber, Mr Biden said: “If the United States walks away now, it will put Ukraine at risk. Europe at risk. The free world at risk, emboldening others who wish to do us harm.
“My message to President Putin is simple. We will not walk away. We will not bow down. I will not bow down.”
Mr Biden quickly turned his attention to Republican opponent and predecessor Donald Trump, condemning his recent comments on Russia, in which he said he would encourage Moscow to attack NATO members who had not spent the required amount on defence.
Pic: Reuters
The 81-year-old then turned to the 2021 6 January attack on the Capitol Building by Trump supporters – and accused them of not being “patriots”.
He called for the threat to democracy to be countered and said Mr Trump, 77, and some members present in the chamber sought to “bury the truth” – something he said he would not do.
He said Mr Trump, his likely Republican challenger for the White House in November’s election, epitomised “resentment, revenge and retribution”.
Referring to the Israel-Hamas conflict, the president confirmed the US would establish a temporary port on the Gaza coast to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the region, describing the consequences of the war as “heartbreaking”.
As the US election approaches in November, Mr Biden spoke about a number of issues facing America and addressed a selection of invited guests to illustrate his key points.
Highlighting Latorya Beasley, a social worker from Alabama, Mr Biden said she and her husband welcomed a baby 14 months ago “thanks to the miracle of IVF”.
But her “dream” of having a second child had been put on hold after the Alabama Supreme Court shut down IVF treatments across the state, the president said.
It followed the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of the landmark Roe v Wade ruling – which legalised abortion nationwide – and led to many state abortion bans.
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Should he be re-elected, Mr Biden said he would restore Roe v Wade as he called on Kate Cox to rise from the stands.
Ms Cox was pregnant with a foetus diagnosed with a serious genetic anomaly, but had to leave the Republican-controlled state of Texas where abortion was illegal in order to terminate the pregnancy.
Mr Biden said: “What her family has gone through should never have happened as well.
“There are state laws banning the right to choose, criminalising doctors, and forcing survivors of rape and incest to leave their states as well to get the care they need.”
He again denounced Mr Trump, referring to him only as his “predecessor” – 13 times in all – instead of by his name, and others in the chamber seeking to pass a national ban on reproductive choice adding: “My God, what freedoms will you take away next?”
The speech was an opportunity for the president to reiterate the economic progress during his time in office, including 15 million new jobs, the growth of small businesses and a drop in inflation since he was sworn in three years ago.
In one moment, hardline Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene interrupted Mr Biden as he covered the tense topic of southern border security.
The Georgia congresswoman was wearing a pro-Trump “Make America Great Again” hat and a T-shirt with the message “say her name”, in reference to Laken Riley, a nursing student from the state, who was brutally killed on campus last month.
A Venezuelan immigrant who entered the country illegally has been charged with her murder.
Ms Greene called on the president to “say her name” and, in response, he did, while holding up a “Laken Riley” badge.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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