President Biden's speechwriters have revised his first State of the Union speech to address the Russian invasion of Ukraine, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Biden is set to deliver the speech at 9:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Per the Post, which cited "a person familiar with the text," the edits are "not a wholesale rewrite" and will focus on Biden's "longtime theme of defending democracies."
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Politico argued that Biden probably "isn't eager to talk about" the consequences of standing up to Russia.
He'll likely have to pivot from climate change to energy security if the loss of oil and natural gas from Russia — which is second only to Canada in how much oil it exports to the U.S. — drives already-high energy prices even higher. Per Politico, this could mean de-emphasizing the domestic transition to renewable energy or cozying up to Saudi Arabia, neither of which is likely to be popular among Democratic lawmakers.
But Biden might not have much of a choice. According to the Post, only 37 percent of Americans approve of his job performance, an ill omen for the 2022 midterms, and that number could get even worse if pain at the pump increases.
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