President Joe Biden is set to deliver his 2024 State of the Union speech on Thursday, March 7.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent the customary invitation on Saturday, inviting the president to address a joint session of Congress to fulfill his constitutional obligation.
“Looking forward to it, Mr. Speaker,” Biden responded on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Johnson noted that it was “a moment of great challenge for our country” in his short letter.
Biden used last year’s State of the Union to announce that the Democratic Party was, under his leadership, returning to its decades-old roots as a champion of labor rights and the middle class.
This year’s speech comes ahead of a widely expected showdown between Biden and former President Donald Trump, who has only intensified his divisive rhetoric since leaving office in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Johnson, a Trump supporter, sent his brief invitation just one day after Biden made a fiery campaign speech skewering Trump.
“As we begin this election year, we must be clear: Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot,” Biden said from Valley Forge, a key Revolutionary War battle site.
“Donald Trump’s campaign is about him. Not America. Not you,” Biden said. “Donald Trump’s campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. He’s willing to sacrifice our democracy to put himself in power.”