MSNBC's Chris Hayes hits Biden for not laying out second term 'vision': 'I can’t really tell you' what it is
Liberal MSNBC host Chris Hayes took a swipe at the Biden reelection campaign for not having a second term "vision" laid out yet ahead of the State of the Union address.
MSNBC's Chris Hayes offered rare criticism of President Biden Wednesday, saying the president has not shared his "vision" of what his second term would look like if reelected.
Ahead of Biden's State of the Union address, Hayes stressed how a "vision of the future" should be top of mind for the Biden campaign, recalling how clear his platform was during the 2020 presidential election.
"I can tell you the Biden 2020 platform," Hayes said. "It was to get COVID under control, it was to then begin bringing the economy out of the depths through investment in the middle class and through infrastructure investment, and to rejoin Paris [Climate Accord] and invest in clean energy, and to restore our relationships. That's what they did. Like they said they were gonna do it, they did it."
He continued, "I can't really tell you right now what the second term Biden vision looks like yet. And I do think that's- I mean, when you talk about elections are about the future, right? Americans are very future-oriented people. That, to me, strikes me. Particularly going to the State of the Union tomorrow, which is a kind of unveiling, I've been thinking about how important that is."
His MSNBC colleague Rachel Maddow responded by saying the State of the Union address is "kind of the kickoff" of a reelection campaign for an incumbent president, predicting Biden will lay out a "positive vision" in his speech.
"It has to be said that it has been a remarkable few years of Republican policy, in particular with the Supreme Court, like reproductive rights. Like, what's the Democratic agenda on reproductive rights? To stop the Republicans from doing more of what they've been doing!" Maddow said.
‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOSTS ANGRILY SUGGEST BIDEN DOESN'T NEED TO ‘LOWER HIMSELF’ TO DEBATE TRUMP
"Like, can you articulate that in a positive way? Maybe. You change your verb tenses, but really, it's about trying to stop what the Republicans have done on reproductive rights and what they're continuing to do, what the Republicans have done and what they're continuing to do on democracy and the rule of law," she added. "But I mean, there is a lot of stuff in terms of this very unusual Republican Party led by Donald Trump that the Democratic Party now exists to stop."
"Yes, a bulwark," Hayes agreed.
"A bulwark to say, we don't want to radically cashier who we are as a country to become a strongman authoritarian dictatorship," Maddow added.
President Biden is hoping for this State of the Union address to be a reset for his 2024 campaign as polling continues to show him consistently behind former President Trump. The latest Fox News poll has Trump with a two-point edge over Biden.
While he is sailing through the primaries, there have been cracks among Democratic voters that may signal trouble for Biden ahead of November, like the sizable turnout for "uncommitted" in critical states like Michigan and Minnesota, as well as his shocking Super Tuesday defeat in American Samoa by unknown Democratic challenger Jason Palmer.
Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.
