Utah Republicans respond with criticism to Biden’s State of the Union

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — President Joe Biden gave his final State of the Union address before the 2024 presidential election, which Utah Republicans largely criticized.

Rep. Blake Moore called Biden’s speech “divisive” while Sen. Mike Lee said the president painted a picture “untethered from reality.”

In his address, Biden said the State of the Union is strong and getting stronger. He called on Congress to pass more funding for Ukraine while criticizing Republicans for opposing a bipartisan border deal.

Throughout the night, Lee seemed to mock Biden during his State of the Union speech, at one point calling the president “not well.” In a reaction video he posted on Twitter/X, Lee criticized Biden on his stance on foreign policy, the U.S. border, and the state of the economy.

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“Despite all of the problems that our nation faces, the president chose to vilify Republicans as the existential threat to our Democratic Republic,” said Lee in part during the video, later adding November won’t come soon enough.

Utah Rep. Burgess Owens echoed the sentiments of his fellow congressmen, saying Americans are worse off while Biden is in the White House.

“This country gave me a shot at the American Dream, and with Joe Biden at the helm, it’s slipping further and further out of reach,” said Owens on Twitter/X. “Our country has a choice to make this November: decline or prosperity.”

Meanwhile, outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney had more of a lukewarm reaction to Biden’s speech. He praised the president for his stance on foreign policy, saying it’s very much in America’s interest to push back against Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, the rest was the “same old liberal playbook.”

“I mean, there were some new chapters, but the same idea, which is ‘here’s some things I’m going to give you. Here’s some more thing I’m going to give you. Here’s how I’m going to crack down on big companies and rich people,'” Romney said, adding that he believes Americans have gotten tired of the messaging. “They know he can’t deliver all those promises because any promise he makes has to get Republican votes.”

Romney said Biden’s biggest mistake of the night was failing to properly address the national debt.

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Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson and Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, both candidates for Romney’s seat in the Senate, weighed in saying the speech was partisan and filled with empty promises.

“The most pressing issue right now is the Biden Administration’s mismanagement of our southern border that will go down as one of the worst preventable tragedies in history,” said Staggs, in a statement. “I don’t know what image is worse: Emperor Nero fiddling as Rome burned or Joe Biden licking an ice cream cone as criminals, terrorists, and human traffickers invade our country.”

“With our borders in chaos, our economy in shambles and our conservative values under assault, it’s never been more important to send a conservative fighter to the U.S. Senate with the guts to stop this madness and take our country back,” said Wilson.

The two are seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate race against Rep. John Curtis, Carolyn Phippen, Clark White, Brent Orrin Hatch, Chandler H. Tanner, Josh Randall, Brian Earl Jenkins, and Jeremy Lewis Friedbaum.

Despite the heavy criticism from Utah’s elected Republicans, the Utah Democratic Party praised Biden saying the sitting president demonstrated his dedication to safeguarding the well-being of Utahns.

“The difference between President Biden’s aspirations for our nation’s future and Trump’s plan to drag us back to 2020 couldn’t be more apparent,” said the UDP via press release. “President Biden is determined to improve the lives of our state’s families, while Donald Trump’s primary focus seems to be degrading our most sacred values: liberty, equality and justice.”

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