State of the Union 2024 full coverage: Biden delivers energetic speech covering Israel, taxes, border security and more

Following tonight's State of the Union, President Biden is heading to Philadelphia tomorrow afternoon with first lady Jill Biden for a campaign event before traveling to Delaware for the weekend.

Reminder: Election Day is 242 days away.

The U.S. Capitol Police confirmed Thursday that a man who heckled President Biden during the State of the Union was removed by officers and arrested.

Here is a statement provided to Yahoo News by the U.S. Capitol Police public information office:

Nikoui's son, U.S. Marine Kareem Nikoui, was among 13 U.S. service members and 170 civilians who were killed in an attack by a suicide bomber at Abbey Gate outside Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport as American troops were withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2021.

Nikoui was heard yelling "Abbey Gate!" before he was led out of the gallery by police. He was later seen in handcuffs.

The Biden administration faced harsh bipartisan criticism over the U.S. military's chaotic withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan during the president’s first year in office.

There are worse places for a president to introduce the themes of his final campaign than in a primetime, nationally televised speech before a joint session of Congress.

That’s precisely what President Biden did Thursday night, capitalizing on the pomp and circumstance of his annual State of the Union address — and the massive media spotlight it commands — to implicitly frame the coming general election clash with his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, as an existential struggle over reproductive rights, America’s place in the world, the future of the middle class and even the integrity of U.S. democracy itself.

“My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy,” Biden said. “A future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor.”

“Now some other people my age see a different story,” the president continued. “An American story of resentment, revenge and retribution. That's not me.”

Click here for Yahoo News' full analysis of Biden's State of the Union speech.

In her 17-plus minute response to President Biden's State of the Union address, Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, the youngest Republican ever elected to the U.S. Senate, mocked Biden's age and his policies in an emotional appeal to voters.

"Biden proudly proclaims that ‘Bidenomics is working,'" Britt said in tones that alternated from breathless to on the verge of tears. "Goodness, y'all. Bless his heart. We know better.”

Recounting what she said were stories she had heard from ordinary Americans struggling to get by, Britt portrayed Biden as out of touch.

"Let's be honest," Britt said. "It's been a minute since Joe Biden pumped gas, ran a carpool or even pushed a grocery cart."

The delivery of her speech will likely be remembered as much as its contents, but there was one notable thing that was not mentioned once: Donald Trump.

President Biden's primetime address, which started more than 20 minutes late, lasted a little over an hour.

He closed with a call for unity.

"I see a future for all Americans," Biden said. "I see a country for all Americans. And I will always be a president for all Americans. Because I believe in America and I believe in you, the American people. You’re the reason I’ve never been more optimistic about our future. So let’s build that future together. Let’s remember who we are: We are the United States of America. There is nothing beyond our capacity when we act together."

During Thursday's speech, Biden directly confronted the issue that may be the greatest threat to his reelection: his age.

"I know I may not look like it but I’ve been around a while," Biden said. "When you get to be my age, certain things become clearer than ever. 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 between those who want to pull America back to the past and those who want to move America into the future. My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy. A future based on core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality, to respect everyone."

"Now, some other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge and retribution," he continued. "That's not me."

A man who reporters identified as a Gold Star father interrupted Biden's State of the Union address by yelling "Abbey Gate!" before he was led out of the gallery above the chamber by security. He was later seen in handcuffs.

In 2021, 13 U.S. service members and 170 civilians were killed in an attack by a suicide bomber at Abbey Gate outside Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport as American troops were withdrawing from Afghanistan.

The Biden administration faced harsh bipartisan criticism over the U.S. military's chaotic withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan.

While President Biden touted his efforts to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas militants, he also said Israel had "a fundamental responsibility ... to protect innocent civilians in Gaza."

"This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined," Biden added.

Describing an emergency U.S. mission to build a pier in Gaza for the delivery of humanitarian supplies, Biden also said that "the only solution" to the hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians "is a two-state solution."

During Thursday's speech, President Biden did not shy away from the subject of the surge of undocumented immigrants crossing into the United States.

"We can fight about fixing the border, or we can fix it. I'm ready to fix it," Biden said, placing blame on Trump for scuttling a compromise reached by Senate lawmakers to stem the flow of migrants lest it give Biden a political win in an election year.

In response, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene heckled Biden, continuing to demand that he say the name of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old University of Georgia student allegedly killed by an undocumented migrant.

Biden did just that, offering condolences to the woman's parents.

The president is using part of his speech to highlight his student loan forgiveness program, which canceled $138 billion in federal student loans for nearly 4 million people.

“I want to make college more affordable,” Biden said before pointing to Keenan Jones, a public school teacher from Minnesota who took advantage of a Biden administration program that allows teachers, nurses and social workers to have their debt erased after 10 years of public service.

Jones was among more than a dozen invited guests watching Biden’s speech from first lady Jill Biden’s box.

“While we’re at it, I want to give public school teachers a raise,” Biden said to applause.

Going after former President Donald Trump on tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations, he enacted during his term of office, Biden engaged in some audience call and response.

"Folks at home, does anybody think the tax code is fair?" he asked.

"No!" Democratic lawmakers shouted back.

"Do you really think the wealthy and big corporations need another 2 trillion tax break?" he asked in reference to Trump's stated priority of cutting taxes even more.

"No!" half of his audience responded.

"I sure don't," Biden added.

President Biden touted his plan to give the federal government more power to negotiate drug prices.

"Americans pay more for prescription drugs than anywhere else," Biden said. "It’s wrong and I’m ending it."

In 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act — a massive budget bill that included a provision allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription prices down on 20 different drugs. In advance of the speech, the White House said that Biden will push to give Medicare the power to negotiate the prices of 50 drugs.

"With a law I proposed and signed and not one Republican voted for, we finally beat Big Pharma. Instead of paying $400 a month for insulin, seniors with diabetes only have to pay $35 a month. And now I want to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American who needs it. For years people have talked about it, but I finally got it done and gave Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs."

During his State of the Union address on Thursday, President Biden referenced his famous comment about the passage of the Affordable Care Act being a "big f***ing deal."

"Folks, the Affordable Care Act, the old Obamacare, is still a very big deal," he said.

During Thursday's State of the Union address, President Biden recounted the economic successes the country has experienced since he took office in 2021, from the growth in manufacturing jobs to the increase in the number of Americans with health insurance.

Summing up the economic picture, Biden declared, "The state of our union is strong and getting stronger!"

As expected, Biden is going after Republicans on the abortion issue and pointing to the recent decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that threatened in vitro fertilization treatments.

“To my friends across the aisle, don’t keep families waiting any longer,” Biden said. “Guarantee the right to IVF nationwide.”

Biden also took aim at Trump’s support for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“He’s the reason it was overturned. In fact, he brags about it,” Biden said. “Look at the chaos that has resulted.”

The president pointed out one of his State of the Union guests, Kate Cox, a mother of two from Dallas whose lifethreatening pregnancy forced her to travel out of state for abortion care.

“Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom,” Biden said. “My God, what freedoms will you take away next?”

After basking in the warm greetings from his fellow Democrats as he entered the House of Representatives, President Biden began his State of the Union address nearly half an hour late on Thursday.

From the start, Biden made it clear that he would deliver a combative speech that would target former President Donald Trump, his rival for 2024, quoting him as telling Russian President Vladimir Putin he could "do whatever the hell you want" when it comes to its war in Ukraine.

"My message to President Putin is simple," Biden said. "We will not walk away. We will not bow down. I will not bow down."

The White House is streaming President Biden's State of the Union address on the WhiteHouse.gov website on a page that allows viewers to share their live reactions to the speech using emojis. The only catch is that there are only three emojis available, all of them positive — a thumbs up, a heart or a party popper:

👍❤️🎉

The White House disabled the chat feature for the State of the Union on its official YouTube channel.

At every State of the Union since the start of the Cold War, one member of the president's Cabinet selected as the "designated survivor" to ensure that someone in the line of succession is kept safe in the event of a catastrophic event during the address. The person not in the Capitol and is typically moved to an undisclosed outside Washington, D.C., during the president's speech.

According to the White House, this year's designated survivor is Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

Acknowledging that an election year State of the Union speech for an incumbent president seeking relection is, essentially, a campaign speech, Democrats chanted "Four more years!" Thursday as Biden made his way to the podium to deliver his address.

Members of the Democratic Women's Caucus arrived wearing white to tonight's State of the Union. Calif. Rep. Norma Torres explained why.

“We are wearing white because certain decisions belong in our communities, in our homes, not in the hands of government,” Torres said in an interview before Biden’s address.

“We are wearing white because freedom of expression and freedom to make choices about when we want to have families should belong to us and our doctors and our spouses or significant others, not the government.”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar put on keffiyehs ahead of the State of the Union address. The black-and-white scarves have “become an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian cause,” according to Reuters.

The two Democratic lawmakers have been outspoken in their support for a ceasefire in Gaza.

For the first time, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson shared the stage at the start of Tuesday's State of the Union Address.

A group of protestors calling for a ceasefire in Gaza attempted to block President Biden's motorcade from the White House to the Capitol ahead of his State of the Union address. Demonstrators wearing black shirts that read "Biden's Legacy = Genocide" were photographed sitting in the street near the Capitol, though it's unclear whether they were able to actually block or alter the motorcade's route.

According to Getty photographer Kent Nishimura, the demonstrators were with Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that, according to its website, "envisions a world where all people — from the U.S. to Palestine — live in freedom, justice, equality, and dignity."

"Like generations of Jewish leftists before us, we fight for the liberation of all people," the group's website says.

Democratic lawmakers dressed in all white for President Biden’s State of the Union address.

The Democratic Women’s Caucus tweeted that House members are pairing their monochromatic ensembles, a nod to suffragists, with black pins that read "Fighting for Reproductive Freedom" because “we won't stop fighting until all women can access the health care they need to control their own lives and futures.”

Some lawmakers posed for photos as they took their seats.

The White House wants credit for a booming economy. So far, however, polls indicate Americans have been fairly downbeat about the country’s economic situation, in large part because of the roaring inflation that shrank savings and purchasing power in Biden’s first few years in office.

Biden’s allies note that inflation has now cooled down considerably and that the U.S. has managed to dodge a recession predicted by many economists. They also say that inflation and other disruptions were the natural consequence of an economy rousing itself from its pandemic slumber.

Critics, however, say that Biden’s own policies are what caused inflation to get out of control.

For many years, opposition party members would simply sit on their hands when the president of the other party said something they disagreed with.

More recently, however, some members of Congress have made a habit of heckling the president. In 2009, GOP South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “you lie!” at President Obama. Since winning the presidency, Biden has also been heckled by Republican House members Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson told GOP lawmakers to uphold decorum during Biden's speech. But Greene, a right-wing hardliner from Georgia, says her behavior tonight "depends on what the president has to say."

“People have asked me a lot about decorum,” Greene told reporters on Thursday. “And my answer back is ... the House of Representatives, Congress as a whole and even the White House has broken decorum a long time ago."

According to the White House, Biden will unveil new proposals to raise taxes on corporations and billionaires during his State of the Union address tonight as he looks to make a sharp contrast between his economic policies and those of former President Donald Trump.

USA Today explains:

Read more from USA Today here.

New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill is wearing a blue-and-yellow scarf with sunflowers, Ukraine’s national flower, to the State of the Union address in support of the country.

Republican members of Congress sought to promote Thursday's passage of the Laken Riley Act during the State of the Union Address.

Sen. Ron Johnson wore a lapel sticker that read "Laken Riley," and a second that read "Say her name."

"The state of the union is Laken Riley," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said in a message posted to X while wearing a "Say Her Name Laken Riley" T-shirt.

Riley was a 22-year-old student at the University of Georgia who was killed last month — allegedly by a man who had illegally crossed the border into the United States. According to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the man was originally arrested for crossing the border near El Paso in 2022, "paroled and released for further processing,” and was then arrested and released by New York City police in 2023.

On Thursday, all House Republicans and 37 Democrats passed the Laken Riley Act, which requires the arrest and detention of any undocumented migrant who commits burglary or theft. It's fate is uncertain in the Senate.

Read more from CNN.

Former Republican Rep. George Santos of New York returned to Congress on Tuesday for the first time since being expelled over a host of ethical violations. Santos told reporters that he came to watch President Biden's State of the Union address as a "spectator."

"I'm just here watching," Santos told reporters.

Asked if he was invited to attend the speech by another member, Santos replied, "No. I'm a former member. I have privileges."

President Biden is expected to make the fight over abortion and access to in vitro fertilization in the fallout over the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision that frozen embryos are "children" a key theme in his speech. As a result, Republicans have enlisted Alabama Sen. Katie Britt — a vocal defender of access to IVF — to give GOP's State of the Union response.

"Make no mistake," Britt told AL.com, defending life and ensuring continued access to IVF services for loving parents are not mutually exclusive.”

"Katie is fighting to preserve the American Dream for the next generation," House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement announcing Britt's speech, per ABC News. "She is a champion for strong families, a secure border, national defense and a vibrant economy with stable prices and opportunities for all. The American people will tune in as the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate turns the page on the oldest President in history."

Read more about Britt from ABC News here.

Elizabeth Carr of Westminster, Mass. made headlines in 1981 as the first baby born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the United States, at a hospital in Virginia.

“The reason I was born there was because IVF was not actually allowed in Massachusetts at the time,” Carr, now 42 years old, told Yahoo News. Norfolk had the only fertility program “that was even attempting IVF at the time in the United States.”

Carr will attend President Biden’s State of the Union address as a guest of Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who said her story has “given hope to so many families struggling with infertility” in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling last month that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered children, threatening IVF access in the state.

“I am completely honored and totally humbled to represent the IVF community,” Carr said of Kaine’s invitation. “I have been a passionate advocate, since as early as I could string a sentence together.”

Late Wednesday, Alabama passed a law that enables fertility clinics to resume IVF treatments without fear of being held liable “for the damage to or death of an embryo.” However, it does not solve the question of whether a frozen embryo created by IVF should be considered a child under state law

Carr spoke with Yahoo News ahead of Thursday’s State of the Union to share more of her thoughts on the Alabama ruling and how it comes into play in the November elections.

Read more from that discussion here.

The White House has released the first excerpts of President Biden's State of the Union speech. Here are his remarks (as prepared for delivery):

The annual State of the Union address is usually a ho-hum affair, marked by political pageantry and a lengthy speech by the president to Congress.

But in 2024, the event will focus the nation’s attention on a question that has become unavoidable for President Biden: Is he sharp enough to lead the country for another four years?

While the substance of what the president says will be the most important thing, this year’s State of the Union is also about Biden’s state of mind.

Biden’s performance on Thursday night will be analyzed by partisans and pundits looking to evaluate the president’s physical and mental stamina. A single slip of the tongue, misstatement or moment of confusion from Biden could overshadow the rest of his address in the minds of voters.

Read more of what to watch for tonight here.

The White House released the guest list for the first lady’s viewing box ahead of Thursday night’s State of the Union.

The individuals were invited because they “personify issues or themes to be addressed by the President in his speech, or they embody the Biden-Harris Administration’s policies at work for the American people,” the White House said.

Here’s the guest list:

• Latorya Beasley, an Alabama woman whose embryo transfer was abruptly canceled as a result of the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF decision

• Kris Blackley, an oncology nurse from South Carolina

• Jazmin Cazares, a gun violence prevention activist whose sister was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas

• Kate Cox, a mother of two from Dallas who was ultimately forced to travel out of state for abortion care

• Samantha Ervin-Upsher, a 23-year-old carpenter union’s apprentice and mother of two from Pittsburgh

• Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union in Detroit

• Bettie Mae Fikes, a singer and civil rights advocate known as the “Voice of Selma”

• Steven Hadfield, a diabetic with a rare blood cancer

• Garnett L. Johnson, mayor of Augusta, Ga.

• Keenan Jones, a public middle school teacher in Minnesota’s Twin Cities

• Natalie King, founder and CEO of Detroit’s Dunamis Charge, the “first-ever African American women-owned electric vehicle charger manufacturing company in the United States,” per the White House

• Ulf Kristersson, prime minister of Sweden, which formally joined NATO on Thursday

• Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona

• Shelby Nikitin, U.S.. Naval commander whose ship was used to protect maritime shipping from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea

• Justin Phillips, founder and CEO of Overdose Lifeline, a non-profit “dedicated to reducing the stigma of substance use disorder and preventing deaths resulting from opioid and fentanyl overdose”

• Kameryn Pupunu, a police officer from Lahaina, Hawaii, who lost four members of his family in the 2023 Maui wildfires

• Maria Shriver, the author, journalist and founder of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement

• Dawn Simms, a member of United Auto Workers Local 126 in Illinois

• Rashawn Spivey, founder and owner of Hero Plumbing in Milwaukee, Wisc.

• Tiffany Zoeller, a military spouse and medical coder at the Womack Army Medical Center in Fort Liberty, N.C.

The White House confirmed Wednesday that Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska and Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, were invited to the State of the Union but declined to attend.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the invitations were made but did not say why they were declined.

Biden met privately with Navalnaya in San Francisco last month. Jean-Pierre said that the president extended the invitation to her in person.

The Washington Post reported that the White House intended to seat Zelenska and Navalnaya together in first lady Jill Biden's viewing box during the State of the Union but the presence of Navalny's widow "caused discomfort for the Ukrainians" because of past statements Navalny made that Crimea — which Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed in 2014 — belonged to Russia.