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Biden State of the Union 2023: Start time, how to watch and stream

Biden will deliver his second State of the State address just days after the United States shot down a Chinese spy balloon.

    by Rob Tornoe
    Published 

President Joe Biden will deliver his second State of the Union address before Congress Tuesday, just days after the United States shot down a Chinese spy balloon that flew through U.S. airspace.

Normally, the State of the Union address is a time for the president to focus on his domestic agenda, but Biden may spend more time than usual on foreign policy. February also marks the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where the conflict continues with no end in sight.

For the first time during Biden’s presidency, Republicans control the House, where all members of Congress will gather for just the second time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Any call for bipartisanship from Biden will probably be fleeting, as Republicans are set to launch their investigation into the president’s family just hours after his speech and are fighting over increasing the debt ceiling.

Expect Biden to tout the country’s strong economy, which posted record job numbers last week. He’ll also likely highlight his administration’s actions to fight inflation and improve the nation’s infrastructure.

The 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:

What time does Biden’s State of the Union start and end?

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 one hour and seven 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 66 minutes. The average length of his previous two speeches have been 67 minutes, which would mean Biden’s address should end just after 10 p.m. Eastern.

Who is delivering the Republican response?

Viewers will see a familiar face offering the Republican response.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, well known from the nearly two years she served as Trump’s press secretary, will deliver her remarks from Little Rock following Biden’s speech.

Sanders, 40, made history last year as the first woman elected as governor of Arkansas, following in the footsteps of her father, Mike Huckabee, who served as the state’s top elected official from 1996 to 2007.

She’s currently the youngest governor in the country. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said in a joint statement she’ll bring “new ideas for a changing future, while also applying the wisdom of the past.”

U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R., Ariz.) will deliver the Republican response in Spanish.

Will Biden go on Fox for traditional Super Bowl interview?

It’s become an annual tradition for the sitting president to do an interview on Super Bowl Sunday with the network airing the big game.

Last year, NBC’s Lester Holt interviewed Biden during the network’s Super Bowl pregame show. The year before that, he spoke with CBS Evening News host Norah O’Donnell ahead of Super Bowl coverage.

But this year, the Super Bowl is being broadcast by Fox, and cable news network Fox News is home to some of the most outspoken anti-Biden opinion hosts on television.

No announcement has been made about Biden appearing on the network. He hasn’t sat for an interview with anyone from Fox News — opinion host or otherwise — since taking office in 2021. But Biden hasn’t done many TV interviews in general — in 2022 he agreed to just seven network sit-downs, according to Politico.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

How are the networks covering the speech?

ABC

  1. Start time: 9 p.m.

  2. Anchor: World News Tonight anchor David Muir

  3. Analysis: ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis, chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl, This Week co-anchor Martha Raddatz, senior White House correspondent Mary Bruce, senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott, chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas, senior national correspondent Terry Moran, Nightline co-anchor Byon Pitts, political director Rick Klein, and contributors Chris Christie and Donna Brazile.

  4. Streaming: Live coverage on ABCNews.com

  5. Local affiliate: 6ABC (Channel 6)

CBS

  1. Start time: 9 p.m.

  2. Anchor: CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell

  3. Analysis: Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan, chief political analyst John Dickerson, chief White House correspondent Major Garrett, chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa, chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes, senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe, and congressional correspondents Nikole Killion and Scott MacFarlane.

  4. Streaming: Live coverage on CBSN starts at 8 p.m. with an hour-long State of the Union special anchored by Norah O’Donnell. CBSN will simulcast the network’s coverage beginning at 9 p.m.

  5. Local affiliate: CBS3 (Channel 3)

FOX

  1. Start time: 9 p.m.

  2. Anchors: Fox News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream

  3. Analysis: Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram

  4. Streaming: Live coverage on Fox29.com at 9 p.m.

  5. Local affiliate: FOX 29 (Channel 29)

NBC

  1. Start time: 9 p.m.

  2. Anchors: NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt and TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie

  3. Analysis: Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd, chief White House correspondent Kristen Welker, chief Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell, and senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson.

  4. Streaming: Live coverage on MSNBC.com at 8 p.m., NBCNews.com at 9 p.m., and on Peacock at 8 p.m. anchored by Zerlina Maxwell

  5. Local affiliate: NBC10 (Channel 10)

PBS

  1. Start time: 9 p.m.

  2. Anchors: Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett

  3. Analysis: Washington Post opinion writer Jonathan Capehart, New York Times opinion writer David Brooks, and Cook Political Report editor-in-chief Amy Walter

  4. Streaming: Live coverage on PBS’s YouTube account

  5. Local affiliate: WHYY-TV (Channel 12)

How are the cable networks covering the speech?

C-SPAN

  1. Start time: 8 p.m.

  2. Anchors: C-SPAN host Greta Brawner and Peter Slen

  3. Analysis: Following the speech and the Republican response, C-SPAN will take viewers’ phone calls and read opinions from Twitter and Facebook

  4. Streaming: Live coverage on C-SPAN.org

CNN

  1. Start time: 8 p.m.

  2. Anchors: Anderson Cooper 360 anchor Anderson Cooper and The Lead with Jake Tapper anchor Jake Tapper

  3. Analysis: CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash, Inside Politics Sunday anchor Abby Phillip, Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? host Chris Wallace, Inside Politics anchor John King, and correspondent Jamie Gangel.

  4. Streaming: Live coverage on CNN.com and across mobile devices through the CNN app

Fox News

  1. Start time: 9 p.m.

  2. Anchors: Special Report anchor Bret Baier and The Story anchor Martha MacCallum

  3. Analysis: America’s Newsroom co-anchor Dana Perino, senior political analyst Brit Hume, The Five co-host Harold Ford Jr., and Kudlow host Larry Kudlow.

  4. Streaming: Live coverage on FoxNews.com and Fox Nation at 9 p.m.

MSNBC

  1. Start time: 8 p.m.

  2. Anchors: The Rachel Maddow Show host Rachel Maddow, The ReidOut host Joy Reid, and Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace

  3. Analysis: The Beat host Ari Melber, All In host Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner Tonight host Alex Wagner, The Last Word host Lawrence O’Donnell, The 11th Hour host Stephanie Ruhle

  4. Streaming: Live coverage on MSNBC.com