(VOVWORLD) - US President Joe Biden delivered the final State of the Union address of his first term on Friday, highlighting the US’s economic achievements and made several commitments for his re-election campaign.
 President Joe Biden delivers his 2024 State of the Union address before Congress on March 7, 2024. (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
A significant portion of Biden’s speech discussed the US economy, a top concern for American voters. Biden said that the economy he inherited “was on the brink,” but has since achieved major milestones, including a record 15 million jobs in the first three years of his term, unemployment at 50-years lows, the smallest racial wealth gap in 20 years, and a decline in inflation.
He also made new vows for the economy, such as “cutting the federal deficit 3 trillion more” by raising taxes on wealthy Americans and large companies and hiking corporate minimum taxes to at least 21% for businesses and 25% for billionaires. These measures, according to Biden, “would raise 500 billion USD over the next 10 years.”
Ahead of the upcoming presidential election in November, Biden addressed the US’s immigration policy, a hot button in this year’s race, while taking multiple swipes at his predecessor, former President and top Republican candidate Donald Trump.
"I will not demonize immigrants saying they are poison in the blood of our country. I will not separate families. I will not ban people because of their faith. Unlike my predecessor, on my first day in office, I introduced a comprehensive bill to fix immigration system," he said.
Biden further lambasted the former President on issues related to military aid to Ukraine and NATO members’ contributions to the alliance’s defense budget, without explicitly mentioning his name.