After the speech, the deluge — of censorship, that is.
The hot facts of the moment about President Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday split mostly along party lines on cable news, with Mr. Biden’s on-air sympathizers praising his forceful delivery while his usual critics suggested he was sometimes overly agitated and vicious.
Here’s a sampling of comments from CNN, Fox News and MSNBC:
CNN
Dana Bash, Chief Political Correspondent: “They wanted him to be a fighter and, boy, did he put up a fight.”
John King, Chief National Correspondent: “He came out punching and he came out swinging from the start.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin, political commentator: “Joe Biden basically had to show up and not be stuck in the yard tonight. And it massively outperformed, just objectively. There has been some stumbling, some coughing and is prone to some types of stuttering. But he showed energy. He showed the ability to get through a long speech.”
Van Jones, political commentator: “I thought he was a remarkable, fiery, strong, dynamic guy. And I think it gives people a lot of confidence that this guy can go the distance.”
Fox News
Brit Hume, Chief Political Analyst: “There was a lot of tripping and fumbling of words and all the rest that we’ve come to associate with him. I don’t think he came out of it at all. I’m not sure if a person sitting at home tonight looking at the man would think he was anything but an angry old man. I’m not sure it was the kind of energy the public would want to see at a time like this in this country.”
Dana Perino, anchor: “I think this was a polarizing, divisive speech and it needed to be.”
Harold Ford Jr., co-host of “The Five”: “He brought a lot of vigor, a lot of energy.”
Sean Hannity, host: “He spent most of the night shouting, speeding through his speech and clearly overcompensating from the average everyday Joe who can barely string two sentences together. … Tonight, America saw, shall we say, a very different Joe Biden. I might call him “Jacked-Up Joe.” “
MSNBC
Nicolle Wallace, Host: This was his “How About Dem Apples” speech. … Everyone knows that was a great speech. And everyone knows that if that’s the message going into the next eight months, the polls will soon reflect that and it’s going to be a real fight.”
Chris Hayes, Host: “It exceeded my expectations. I didn’t think this would be so aggressive, so sharp.”
Joy-Ann Reid, Host: “I thought the speech was very ‘caffeinated’. I think Joe Biden woke up this morning, had a cup of coffee and had his cereal. He was definitely there to fight.”
Lawrence O’Donnell, Host: “I’ve never brought so much energy at 10 p.m.”
