February 8, 2023

Fox and Friends couldn't avoid the obvious.

President Biden schooled Republicans on Social Security and Medicare during his State of the Union.

And the post-speech polls showed that independent voters were "turned off" by their antics.

Co-host Steve Doocy claimed Biden's speech writers planned to goad Republicans into a confrontation when the topic of Social Security and Medicare came up in the speech, but what happened was purely organic.

"We understand from our White House correspondent that apparently the White House Comms team is delighted at the reaction, because it looked like Joe Biden was standing up to the Republicans," Doocy said.

Doocy interviewed Kevin McCarthy, who clearly wished he didn't have to wake up this morning. "Lee Carter was with us, she worked the dials and said independents were turned off by all of the heckling. At one point, it looked like you were trying to shush your side of the aisle."

"What happened?" Doocy asked the new Speaker of the House.

As usual, Speaker McCarthy couldn't give an honest answer to Doocy's question, so instead, he blamed Biden for goading his far-right colleagues into their hissy fit.

That's called getting played, Kevin.

"Well, the president was trying to goad the members and the members are passionate about it...."

McCarthy's members are passionate about holding the country hostage over the debt ceiling, claiming the 2020 election was stolen from a treasonous ex-president.

Then McCarthy claimed the GOP never, ever wanted to cut our Social safety nets.

Even the Fox News chyron said so.

That is a BIG lie. On January 7th, Rep. Michael Waltz told Stuart Varney these programs must be addressed.

"If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it's the entitlement program that's 70% of our entire budget," Waltz said. "That 1.7 trillion and defense within that is only 30%."

Here's Sen. Mike Lee saying, "It will be my objective to phase out Social Security. To pull it up by the roots and get rid of it."

Who could forget Sen. Rick Scott's plan to sunset Social Security and Medicare?

Even the Meet the Press host blasted Scott: Chuck Todd Busts Rick Scott For Plot To Cut Social Security

Even John Harris of Politico praised Biden's political acumen: Republicans Turn Themselves Into Props for Biden:

This time, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shouted out at least nine times, by the count of a POLITICO reporter in the gallery, that Biden was a liar. No one was surprised — certainly not Biden, who recognized an opportunity when it is delivered gift-wrapped before a nationwide audience.

Digby writes, "Republicans have been trying to cut these programs from the day they were enacted, always under the rationale that it's "socialism," a charge which has made a big comeback in the last couple of years. It's in the GOP DNA and they aren't going to stop now. But the fact that they had a full-blown hissy fit in the middle of the State of the Union tells you that they are more aware than ever of just how politically lethal it is to be seen doing it at the moment, which tells you something."

"Biden couldn't have handled the fracas any better if he'd planned it. He engaged with the Republicans right there on the floor with a back-and-forth that ended up with the Republicans all rising to their feet to promise that no cuts would be made to the programs. He was not intimidated by their antics in the least and clearly enjoyed putting them in their places. He was in his element, jousting with political opponents — the picture of a happy warrior..."

Digby said," This State of the Union speech was one of Biden's best moments as president," and I concur.

SO did most viewers.

CNN's Flash poll has the proof.

The poll found 72 percent of watchers had a positive view of the speech, with 34 percent saying it was very positive. It reported that 28 percent of watchers viewed the speech negatively, with 10 percent saying it was very negative.

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