Biden State of the Union: Start time, how to watch and stream

President Joe Biden will deliver his third State of the Union address before Congress Thursday, his largest audience before facing off against former President Donald Trump in November’s election.

Despite concerns over their ages, Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, are their party’s presumptive nominees. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ended her Republican presidential primary bid on Wednesday after winning just one state on Super Tuesday, followed by Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who ended his longshot Democratic primary challenge and endorsed Biden.

White House officials have not spoken about the topics Biden will address, but he’s expected to highlight the accomplishments of his administration, which includes a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a crackdown on so-called junk fees and overdraft charges. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Biden is also likely to highlight reproductive rights after a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children, threatening access in the state to in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

Among the guests attending the State of the Union is Kate Cox, invited by first lady Jill Biden after having been forced to leave Texas to receive abortion care when her fetus was diagnosed with a genetic condition that threatened her health and future fertility.

Biden will also likely talk about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas and the war in Ukraine. Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady, declined a White House invitation to attend the State of the Union, citing a scheduling conflict to the Washington Post. The parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia for nearly a year, will also attend the speech as guests of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R., La.).

Biden is scheduled to travel to the Philadelphia area Friday to participate in campaign events, according to the White House. Specific details about the visit have not yet been released.

The State of the Union address will air on all major broadcast networks and cable news channels to an expected audience of 35 million to 40 million viewers. It will also be streamed live online. Here’s what you need to know:

Biden is expected to begin his address live from the Capitol shortly after 9 p.m. It will air live on all broadcast networks and cable news channels, and is available to stream here on Inquirer.com, courtesy of PBS:

Over the past 10 years, State of the Union speeches have averaged about one hour and eight minutes. Former President Barack Obama preferred shorter speeches that came in under an hour (his longest was 65 minutes in 2014), while all four of former President Donald Trump’s speeches to a joint session of Congress topped one hour.

Last year, Biden spoke for one hour and 13 minutes, the longest of his three addresses before a joint session of Congress. His speeches have averaged about 66 minutes, which would make Biden’s address end just after 10 p.m. Eastern.

Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama will deliver the Republicans’ rebuttal to Biden’s address.

Britt is the first woman to represent Alabama in the Senate, and at 41 years old, she’s viewed as a rising star in the party. She’s even been mentioned as a potential vice presidential candidate for former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Britt during her 2022 race to succeed retiring Sen. Richard Shelby.

“It will be interesting to see if Britt rises to the occasion,” former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said during a radio interview last weekend. “If she does, it will be a major step up in her potentially being Trump’s vice presidential candidate.”

It remains to be seen if Trump will deliver his own response to Biden’s speech. His campaign has made no announcements — the only event on his campaign schedule is a get-out-the-vote rally in Rome, Ga., on Saturday.

Since the mid-1930s, most presidents delivered their annual State of the Union addresses in January, a trend Biden has bucked during this three years in office. All three of his addresses before a joint session of Congress have taken place in February or later.

Biden’s speech will be just the second State of the Union delivered in March — the first was his 2022 speech, which was delayed by a winter COVID spike and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. This year’s State of the Union will also be the latest since 1934, after Congress shifted the opening of its sessions to January. But it’s not as delayed as Biden’s first address before a joint session of Congress, which took place on April 28.

So why March? In order for Biden to deliver the State of the Union, he needs to be invited to speak before a joint session of Congress by the speaker of the House, who is currently Rep. Mike Johnson (R., La.). That invitation to speak on March 7 was sent to Biden on Jan. 6.

Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

As far as the annual speech itself, the Constitution states that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

George Washington, in 1790, was the first to deliver a regular address to Congress. The address has transformed over the years, shifting from a speech to a written statement, and back to a speech with the advent of radio and later television. Since 1947, it has officially been known as the State of the Union.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker will attend Biden’s State of the Union address as a guest of Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Pa.), a longtime political ally.

“I’m pleased to welcome our first female mayor, my friend of many years, as my guest for the State of the Union address,” Evans said in a statement. “This is a chance to spotlight the fresh start and positive change she is bringing to Philadelphia.”

Parker, who took office in January as the city’s first female mayor, joined Biden at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service event during her first weeks in office and will welcome him again to Philadelphia on Friday.

» READ MORE: Mayor Cherelle Parker will attend President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address