'New version of Joe Biden' in State of the Union as he delivers 'tough talk'

08 March 2024 , 15:37

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President Biden looked very different form his recent 'unsteady-looking appearances'

US President appeared to dispel doubts about age after presenting a “new version” of himself at his State of the Union, according to a body language expert.

With the November presidential election on the horizon, Biden took to stage on Thursday evening to a joint session of where he delivered his annual speech. While critics might have expected the 81-year-old to be feeble and forgetful at the podium, Biden was praised for his fiery and pugnacious address.

Throughout the evening, he took jabs at former US President without ever explicitly calling him by his name and gave Supreme Court justices a “hawk-like stare” as he bashed its decision to overturn Roe v Wade. It was a confident performance from the President who even went off-script at times to parlay with Republicans who were watching from the audience.

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He may have walked onto the stage a tortoise pace, but he showed a new side to himself, expert says (Getty Images)

Body language expert Judi James took a closer look at Biden’s appearance and explained how he came across differently to recent fraught appearances. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, she said: “The state of Joe Biden here might have taken the country (and Trump) by surprise after some of his recent confused and unsteady-looking appearances have prompted speculation about his age and his health.

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"He might have made his way to the stage at a pace that would have had him lapped by a tortoise but that was because so many of the faithful wanted to touch him, take selfies and, in one case, almost plane a kiss on his lips."

Judi noted that the entrance may have cemented concerns over Biden's age, and his position while taking the podium wasn't much better. She explained; "When he was poised to speak there was a suggestion of the low energy levels he has been showing of late as he began with his weight resting on both arms, which in turn rested on the lectern".

Biden delivered his fiery address during a joint meeting of Congress (Getty Images)

His wife, First Lady Jill Biden, also appeared nervous as her husband took the stage. Judi explained: "Jill Biden's expression and pose suggested some anxiety as she watched him from the balcony with her raised shoulders hinting at some stress,"

Trump-aligned Super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. released a scathing new smear campaign advert, which landed just hours before Biden’s address on Thursday. “If Biden wins, can he even survive til 2029?,” the narrator quipped, making fun of his age. Biden, however, appeared to prove his Republican rivals wrong, and it all started with an ice-breaker.

“His opening line was a rather antique, much pre-loved joke about ‘If I were smart I’d go home now’ but it broke the ice for the audience and it seemed to signal the appearance of a new version of Biden too, as after that he was delivering a very close impression of a man on fire,” Judi said. The president continued to display bouts of red-hot passion, the expert said.

The president received a standing ovation after slamming the Supreme Court's Roe v Wade ruling (AFP via Getty Images)

“Biden shouted his way through most of this speech, his head rotating as he fixed his audience with a hawk-like stare and an angry frown. Spewing anger over the ‘unacceptable’ plans of the man he refused, like Voldemort, to call by name, referring to ‘The former President’ instead, he delivered tough talk about Putin with some crescendos of unexpected venom, stabbing his index finger hard onto the lectern and stating ‘We will not bow down. I will not bow down'."

While the State of the Union is usually a heavily scripted affair, which many believed would help Biden, there were moments that showed the President still has it. As Judi explained: It’s been said that he is at his best with a script as he was here, but there were a couple of asides in this speech and one pause to pick out the Swedish minister up in the balcony and neither act seemed to unbalance him or cause him any problems when it came to diving back into his script. ‌At one point his hand was raised in a punching fist to suggest a desire to fight and when he mentioned being told ‘I’m too old’ he used a wide, knowing grin that would have made Jack Nicholson look like a lightweight."

However, she did note his performance was not completely without fault. Saying: "There were some worrying-sounding coughs in between sentences and he did falter once with his words but he self-corrected quickly for the ‘miss-read’ and with no facial expression of confusion."

James Liddell