ALL EYES ON BIDEN
President Joe Biden will deliver his third State of the Union address tonight. He will use the opportunity to try to allay concerns about his age and persuade Americans that he can serve a second term as the country barrels toward a high-stakes election in November.
Biden is scheduled to deliver his address at 9 p.m.
Viewers will mostly be evaluating Biden based on his performance, not just his message.

President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in D.C. on Feb. 7, 2023. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/Getty Images
Is he making mistakes? Will there be any verbal blunders? Is he appearing energetic and in control? How will he confront hecklers? His actions will be carefully monitored.
Hence, it will be a crucial address for the 46th president as he works to restore public trust in his age and mental acuity.
Historian Jon Meacham, who assisted the president in crafting his speech this year, believes that Biden needs to address concerns surrounding his age during the State of the Union.
“Of course, they’re legitimate concerns,” he told CNN in a recent interview.
“I understand that you can’t tell half the country that they’re just wrong to worry about something. So, he’s got to show us and not just tell us,” Meacham said.
During the address, Biden is expected to tout his achievements over the past three years, including his legislative wins. He is expected to cover a variety of topics, but many observers will be eagerly waiting to hear his proposals on border security and the situation in Gaza.
Many voters have been expressing concerns about his handling of these two significant issues.
This year, viewers will observe a new face standing behind the president as he delivers his speech. In October, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) assumed the role of House speaker following the removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Many will closely monitor the speaker’s facial expressions and interactions with the president during the State of the Union speech.
According to the White House, Biden worked on his speech last weekend with his senior team at Camp David.
The president will continue to fine-tune it throughout the day before delivering it, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
“This is something that he is personally involved in.”
—Emel Akan
POLITICAL PRESSURE MOUNTS ON TIKTOK
A new bill would ban the TikTok social media app in the United States unless its Chinese-owned parent company divests.
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would ban app stores from making TikTok available and bar U.S.-based companies from hosting other applications created by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.
The Bill would also give the president authority to force the divestment of other social media companies owned by entities in China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
“I think it’s fair to say that this is about that ownership structure in that framework, not about going after a particular company,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.), who introduced the bill alongside 19 other colleagues from both the Democrat and Republican parties.
“There is a path forward for TikTok, as outlined in our bipartisan bill. If TikTok is completely divested by CCP-controlled ByteDance, if there is a separation, the app can remain in the United States.”
A similar bill failed to gain traction in the Senate last year amid heavy lobbying by TikTok, which boasts an audience of some 170 million Americans.
To hear TikTok tell it, the new bill is an assault on the U.S. Constitution rather than the communist influence exerted by the CCP over the app.
“This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it,” a spokesperson for TikTok told The Epoch Times.
“This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.”
—Andrew Thornebrooke
HALEY SHUTTERS WHITE HOUSE BID
After suffering a slate of defeats on Super Tuesday, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley yesterday ended her quest to be elected as the first female president in U.S. history. She said she has no regrets and declined to endorse former President Donald Trump, whom she called on to court her supporters.
In a concession speech, Haley acknowledged the GOP voters have spoken and they want Trump. She called for fiscal responsibility and to stand with our allies—in what was an apparent shot at Trump.
Haley said that while she won’t be a candidate for president anymore, she will “not stop using my voice for the things I believe in.”
While Haley went from single digits to double digits in the polls and had a breakout first debate performance, it simply was not enough due to the vast majority of GOP voters wanting Trump.
Haley had an impressive fundraising apparatus, even getting campaign contributions from major donors after losing Iowa and New Hampshire. Her campaign was fiscally responsible while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis burned through cash and dropped out before New Hampshire, leaving Haley and Trump as the final two major GOP candidates.
However, Haley had stirred controversies including not initially acknowledging that slavery was a main cause of the Civil War and that America has “never been a racist country.”
In the end, it was simply the Trump factor that caused Haley’s comet to fall back to Earth, as those in her orbit told The Epoch Times.
Nonetheless, Haley could run for the White House in 2028, though that could hinge on who wins in November and the world could look very different then. It is safe to say she will have millions to hit the ground running were she to launch another presidential bid.
—Jackson Richman
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- Biden delivers the State of the Union address at 9 p.m. ET
- The House Foreign Affairs Committee will vote on holding Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress.
The House overwhelmingly passed a long-term appropriations bill to avoid a partial government shutdown, reports The Epoch Times’ Samantha Flom. Conservative Republicans, especially the Freedom Caucus, blasted the measure due to the spending amount and other issues.
New York Community Bancorp received a $1 billion bailout from investors and therefore will not shut down, at least for now, reports The Epoch Times’ Andrew Moran. Were it to shutter, it would follow the path of Silicon Valley Bank and other institutions.
Mark your calendars for April 25 as the Supreme Court hears whether former President Donald Trump has immunity and therefore should not have to face trial in the federal case accusing him of trying to subvert the 2020 election, reports The Epoch Times’ Sam Dorman. That trial, which was scheduled to start on March 4, has been postponed pending the Supreme Court’s decision.
Fani Willis allegedly misappropriated homicide funds toward cases related to elections, according to an attorney, reports The Epoch Times’ Catherine Yang. This comes as the Fulton County district attorney could be disqualified from prosecuting cases against Trump and 18 co-defendants over allegedly trying to overthrow the 2020 election in Georgia.
Actors Cuba Gooding Jr. and Kevin Sorbo attended the March 2 screening of The Firing Squad, which is based on a true story, reports The Epoch Times’ Emily Allison. The film was made by Epoch Studios, which is a part of Epoch Media Group that also consists of The Epoch Times.