President Joe Biden on Thursday night used the backdrop of Congress and his biggest set piece speech of election year to deliver a sharply political message that democracy is under threat at home and abroad.

It was not so much a State of the Union as a state of the race.

He channeled his message through the prism of Donald Trump, referring to ‘my predecessor’ 13 times, without once uttering his name. 

He attacked him on Russia. He attacked him on reproductive rights, on affordable healthcare, on the border crisis, on gun control, on the January 6 attack, and on his handling of the pandemic.

‘A president, my predecessor, failed the most basic presidential duty that he owes to American people—the duty to care,’ he said. ‘I think that’s unforgivable.’ 

President Joe Biden delivered a forceful performance as he set out his platform for the election during his State of the Union address to Congress on Thursday evening

‘I’ve been told I’m too old,’ said Biden. ‘Whether young or old, I’ve always known … what endures. I’ve known our North Star: The very idea of America is that we’re all created equal.’

Commentators said it was the most partisan State of the Union address they could remember as Biden used the occasion, eight months before the election, to compare himself repeatedly to the alternative facing voters.

He even found a way top use his 81 years to his advantage. 

‘I’ve been told I’m too old,’ he said. ‘Whether young or old, I’ve always known … what endures. I’ve known our North Star: The very idea of America is that we’re all created equal.’

While he was looking to the future, he added, others were looking backwards to ‘anger, revenge, retribution.’ 

Trailing in the polls, the oldest president in U.S. history needed to kickstart his campaign. And the live TV audience gave him a chance not just to deliver a message but to also showcase his vigor and fitness for the job.

The result was a president with historically poor approval ratings delivering a nakedly populist speech, with tax hikes for billionaires and promising action on the border crisis. 

Republican strategist John Feehery described it as a convention speech rather than a State of the Union.

‘The elephant outside the room was Trump,’ he said. ‘You can’t escape Trump.

‘And all the things he talked about, the populism, the border, the immigration, these are all things that are on his territory.’

If the idea of the speech was to rile Trump, it worked.

Biden channeled his message through the prism of Donald Trump , referring to ‘my predecessor’ 13 times, but pointedly refused to use his rival’s name

President Joe Biden poses for a photo as he makes his way across the House floor 

‘That may be the angriest, least compassionate, and worst State of the Union speech ever made,’ the former president posted. ‘It was an embarrassment to our country!’

The address is one of the best chances for Biden to harness prime time TV and a direct line into sitting rooms across the nation. But declining audiences have taken some of the oomph out of the night.

Instead, aides hope that he might be able to generate viral moments, such as last year when he put down Republicans who heckled him on cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

This year, in a reminder of the president’s fragility, his attempt at a similar ad lib to heckles went awry when he picked up a pin handed to him earlier by Republican controversialist Marjorie Taylor Greene.

‘Lincoln, Lincoln Riley,’ he said. ‘An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal.’ 

The case has become a cause célèbre among Republicans highlighting the crime threat from migrants, but Biden managed to botch the name of ‘Laken Riley,’ and use a term—’an illegal’—disliked by his party.

Republican Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene tried repeatedly to disrupt the speech

Vice President Kamala Harris shakes hands with House Speaker Mike Johnson at the end

Democratic members of Congress cheer President Joe Biden during the State of the Union address – many Democratic women lawmakers wore white to show their support for reproductive rights

Even so, Democrats were delighted by his vigorous delivery and the way he set the tone for an election in which they argue they are fighting for democracy.

‘Freedom and democracy are under attack both at home and overseas at the very same time,’ he said as he opened his speech with an appeal to Congress to support Ukraine.

And he compared his opposition to Russian leader Vladimir Putin with Trump’s stance.

‘Now my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin quote, do whatever the hell you want,’ he said, his voice dripping with contempt.

‘That’s a quote. A former president actually said that … bowing down to a Russian later.

‘I think it’s outrageous. It’s dangerous and it’s unacceptable.’

He used a similar formula throughout, setting his policies and views in contrast to his predecessor’s.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and other Democrats wore scarves to show their support for Gaza

A packed chamber to hear Biden’s biggest setpiece speech ahead of the election in November

‘My predecessor, and some of you here, seek to bury the truth about Jan. 6 — I will not do that,’ he said. 

‘This is a moment to speak the truth and to bury the lies. Here’s a simple truth. You can’t love your country only when you win.’

Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said just 48 hours after Super Tuesday, and with the two election candidates pretty much decided, it made sense to set out the battle lines with the State of the Union.

‘I think it was a good illustration of what his reelection campaign is going to be like,’ he said. ‘He made clear his goal is to to fight against attempts to subvert democracy at home by Trump and internationally by Putin.’

And Bannon said he dealt with the age issues with both a forceful delivery and by tackling the question head on.

‘My fellow Americans,’ said Biden as he wound up to his conclusion, ‘the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are it’s how old our ideas are?

‘Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among the oldest of ideas.

‘But you can’t lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back.

‘To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future of what America can and should be.’