Earlier this morning, we posted a full analysis of Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, “A ‘Weird’ and Bellowed State of the Union.” But wait! There’s more!

We turn now to the official GOP response from freshman Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and presumed GOP nominee Donald Trump’s running color commentary.

Katie Britt Delivers Emotional GOP Response

“The American family needs to have a tough conversation. We’re all worried about the future of our country.”

Following a State of the Union address is usually a tough act, but always a necessary one. (Just ask Sen. Marco Rubio.) Last night, the task of delivering the official GOP response to Biden’s speech fell to rookie Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama.

Forty-two-year-old Britt, the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate, sat in her own kitchen to deliver an emotional, personal address to the American people. She spoke like a mom — no, a mama bear. She spoke like a strong, sensitively conservative, normal woman who has had enough and is hurting for her nation and the children who will inherit it. She spoke like the kind of woman who may hold the keys to the 2024 election in her hand — the kind of woman CNN and The View hold in contempt.

Britt declared Biden’s State of the Union address “the performance of a permanent politician who’s been in office longer than I have been alive.”

“He just doesn’t get it,” she said.

During Biden’s speech, many Democratic women wore white, symbolizing their support for killing the unborn. By contrast, Britt wore a cross on her neck and her heart on her sleeve.

Yes, her emotional delivery, at times on the verge of tears, made her sound like the lady asking for money for Holocaust survivors in Israel. But her critique of Biden was pointed and direct. “The American Dream has turned into a nightmare,” she said frankly. With astonishment in her voice, she shredded Biden for calling Laken Riley “Lincoln Riley,” and for leaving the border open both for Riley’s murderer and those seeking to kill untold numbers of Americans by trafficking in fentanyl.

“This crisis is despicable,” she said. “And the truth is, it is almost entirely preventable. From fentanyl poisonings to horrific murders, there are empty chairs tonight at kitchen tables just like this one.”

She concluded, “The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader.”

That wasn’t spin, as this moment indicated:

https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1765940460848341159?s=20

She paraphrased Ronald Reagan, asking the one question that will matter this autumn: “Are you better off now than you were three years ago?” At one point Britt said of Biden, “Bless your heart,” which in Southern woman-speak, is worse than any mean tweet Trump ever typed.

Yet, with the endearing smile of a mother serving cookies at a school bake sale, Katie Britt spoke of hope and a healthier America.

Sen. @KatieBrittforAL: “Together, we can reawaken the heroic spirit of a great nation. Because America, we don’t just have a rendezvous with destiny. We take destiny's hand, and we lead it.” pic.twitter.com/MROgq0THsz

— GOP (@GOP) March 8, 2024

The media and elite class immediately and predictably mocked her for these sentiments. How amusing of ABC News to bemoan her “dark vision” minutes after Joe Biden compared the majority of Americans who want him out of office to the Nazis who invaded Europe.

But how did real people outside the media respond to Britt’s heart-to-heart? Did she sound like she is more in touch with the common voter than the 81-year-old grumbling about Snickers bars and insurrectionists, and showing more support for Ukraine than protecting America? Did she reach suburban women who are nervous about Trump but terrified about the state of their finances and what’s happening in their kids’ schools? Katie Britt sure sounded like one of them.

And the GOP bench just got deeper.

WATCH FOR YOURSELF:

Or you can read the transcript.

Trump’s Truth Social Goes Down as Former President Delivers Real-Time Critiques and One-Liners

Former President Trump was planning to respond to Joe Biden in real time on his Truth Social network. Unfortunately, Truth Social was down for much of the time many people were hoping to follow him there. Was this a denial of service attack? Trump’s social media site suggests a record-breaking number of people just wanted to get on.

All’s well now, and you can see what he was posting last night — a typically Trumpian mix of serious fact-checking and humorous asides.

First, some of the fact checking.

He didn’t stand up to Putin, he gave Putin Ukraine!

Biden talked about the SNICKERS Bars, before he talked about the Border!

All Reduction Pricing [on prescription drugs] was done by us, and kicked in after we left!

“The Pandemic no longer controls our lives. The Vaccines that saved us from COVID are now being used to help beat Cancer – Turning setback into comeback!” YOU’RE WELCOME, JOE, NINE MONTH APPROVAL TIME VS. 12 YEARS THAT IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN YOU!”

No, I said NATO has to pay its bills, and if it doesn’t pay its bills, we are not going to protect you. THE MONEY CAME POURING IN! Under other Presidents, NATO was BROKE.

The so-called “Insurrectionists” that he talks about had no guns, they only had a Rigged Election. The only gun was that used on Ashli Babbitt, who sadly, is no longer with us!

Then there were the “Only Trump” gems:

Who kissed him on the cheek with lipstick? Now he’s got lipstick on his face. How stupid of her!

WHAT HAPPENED TO NANCY?

Don’t shake his hand, he’s been coughing into it the entire night!

See, as he’s getting ready to cough yet again into his right hand, the Fake News Media rushes him off the screen!

THE DRUGS ARE WEARING OFF!

Sometimes he didn’t even need words:

The former president and presumed GOP nominee summarized his rival’s speech in two posts, which incidentally, show off his two sides: The tough guy from Queens and the late-night stand-up comic.

That may be the Angriest, Least Compassionate, and Worst State of the Union Speech ever made. It was an Embarrassment to our Country!

The Story is that he got through it, he’s still breathing, and they didn’t have to carry him out in a straitjacket. Other than that, he did not do a very good job!

Trump closed the night with his official video response.

 

Al Perrotta is managing editor of The Stream, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.