Biden will use the State of the Union address to convince voters about his ability as president

AP

President Joe Biden is set to use his annual address to Congress and the people on Thursday to promote his vision of a second term in the White House to a disheartened electorate, questioning whether he is fit to hold office, and warn that the favorite to win the Republican nomination, Donald Trump, would be a dangerous alternative.

Biden's third State of the Union address will be a sort of job interview: the oldest president in history will try to respond to fears about his performance and at the same time highlight the contrast with his almost certain rival next November.

More: Biden wins the caucuses in Hawaii and is expected to formally obtain the Democratic nomination later this month

The president hopes to highlight his achievements in infrastructure and manufacturing, push for aid laws for Ukraine, stricter immigration rules, restore access to abortion, and lower drug prices, among other issues. But all eyes will be on the 81-year-old leader to see if he delivers it with the vigor and authority of a commander-in-chief.

At the same time, he will try to turn the annual address to Congress and the people, with all its pomp, into a more intimate moment. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden faces the speech as a "continuation of the conversations" he has with ordinary citizens as he travels the country.

"It is built on those conversations, on that experience he has," she said on Wednesday.

Biden spent last weekend crafting the speech in the isolation of the presidential retreat at Camp David with his closest collaborators and presidential historian Jon Meachem. He will continue to fine-tune it until the day of the speech itself, Jean-Pierre said.

The president will speak before one of the most ineffective congresses in history. In the House of Representatives, controlled by the Republicans, Mike Johnson took over the presidency five months ago, after the chaotic dismissal of his predecessor Kevin McCarthy. Lawmakers have yet to pass the current year's budget and have been at a standstill for months on bills to send aid to Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion and to Israel at war with Hamas.  

More: Biden wins the caucuses in Hawaii and is expected to formally obtain the Democratic nomination later this month

The State of the Union address is one of the main days on the White House calendar, giving the president a captive audience of lawmakers and dignitaries in the chamber and tens of millions of viewers in their homes. But even so, the evening has lost some of its luster.

"You hear people say, 'that speech has lost all importance. Better send a pdf or a video.' That's nonsense," said Michael Waldman, a speechwriter for the Bill Clinton presidency. "It won't have as much audience as Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl, but it's a large audience for a political speech."