U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., has proposed canceling future invitations for President Joe Biden to deliver State of the Union addresses, calling the most recent iteration a divisive campaign speech.
No more State of the Union invitations for President Biden, Rep. Tom Emmer says
The Minnesota Republican made the suggestion during a party retreat over the weekend.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 18, 2024 at 1:39PM
Emmer’s remarks came during a Republican retreat in West Virginia in an interview with Axios.
“That was about the most divisive State of the Union — I wouldn’t extend him an invitation next year, if that’s what we’re going to get,” Emmer told the outlet.
He added that “it’ll be a different president” next year and that Congress should rethink whether to invite the president to deliver another address in the future.
“That was a campaign speech,” Emmer said.
Biden regularly referenced former President Donald Trump, who clinched the Republican nomination for president after winning four state primaries last week, by making several references to “my predecessor” during the address.
The president was also booed by Republicans when he referred to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol as a threat to democracy. A spokesperson for Emmer did not immediately respond to questions about which remarks he found divisive.
Trump himself made several references to the previous administration during his own election-year State of the Union address. He egged on Democrats in Congress for backing universal health care in 2020, calling it a “socialist takeover” of the insurance market and lambasted state leaders in New York and California for policies that barred state and city law enforcement officials from enforcing federal immigration laws.
“This was certainly not an outcome that we were hoping would materialize, and we know that today’s path forward does not provide a perfect solution,” interim OCM director Charlene Briner said Wednesday.
