“Platitudes and political theater,” is how Erin Elmore, a Town Hall columnist, described President Joe Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress on Fox Nation Wednesday.
Elmore joined host Tomi Lahren, along with Fox Nation host David Webb and Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz, to react to Biden’s address, adding, “you could barely put all those platitudes into one speech, really.”
When it came to substance, the panel agreed Biden’s message was one of bigger government, and less personal responsibility and freedom.
“President Biden told us one thing very clearly: The almighty government funded by you, the American taxpayer, is your savior, your messiah, and your master,” Lahren asserted. “The government run by Democrats closed your businesses, your schools, and mandated healthy people stay at home — Now, that same government, almost completely controlled by Democrats and Joe Biden, wants to be your employer, your paycheck, your guardian, and your family.”
“The message tonight…wasn’t one of freedom or liberty. It wasn’t one of self-reliance or personal responsibility. It was one of depending upon the government for your health and safety; depending upon the government for your job; depending upon the government for your paycheck, and being allowed to go outside without a mask,” she continued.
Chaffetz added that he felt much of the night was theater. “The visual was just an embarrassment,” said Chaffetz. “All of those people…have masks, and they’ve been vaccinated. I think that was more theater, and it was an embarrassment.”
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The panelists also criticized Biden for relying on identity politics in a time when the country is deeply divided – a stark contrast to the message of unity he touted during his Inaugural Address.
“We’re back to identity politics,” Elmore said. “Yes, it’s great to have people of every race, every ethnicity, and every gender represented in Washington — but doesn’t it matter what our qualifications are? Clearly not anymore.”
All the programs Biden touted in his speech, Lahren noted, would raise taxes, and cost the American people money.
“We’re going to be paying for it, so I hope there’s a lot of goodies in it for all of us,” Lahren said.
But Chaffetz wasn’t optimistic that Biden’s trillion-dollar plans are taking the fiscally responsible route.
“More government, more control, less liberty, and more of our American tax dollars,” he said. “There’s nothing fiscally responsible about what he’s doing. It’s just all government, all the time.”
All of this, Lahren said, would leave the American voters with a tough choice during the midterm elections.
“So, at the end of the day, I think the American people are certainly going to have a choice in the midterm elections if they want to choose freedom once again in putting America first, or continue down this path of America last and control,” she concluded.
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