Federal officials erected a barrier around the U.S. Capitol ahead of Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech, which sparked criticism from Republicans. They highlighted the stark difference between the administration’s approach to national security and immigration policies, pointing to the contrast between the closed-off Capitol and the porous U.S. southern border.
According to the Capitol Police, the State of the Union address is considered a National Special Security Event, demanding an extensive security framework and a significant law enforcement presence backed by a formidable wall to safeguard the Capitol from potential threats.
Critics from the Republican camp have seized the moment to point out what they see as hypocrisy. Alex Bruesewitz from X Strategies shared with Breitbart News his thoughts on the issue, “Democrats are happy to spend taxpayer money on building a wall to secure Biden and other D.C. elites, but they refuse to continue funding for Trump’s border wall that was being built to keep the American people safe.”
The barrier, an eight-foot structure, is scheduled to stand for five days following Biden’s address. It comes adorned with signs from the Capitol Police Board stating that the area is closed off.
This Capitol fortification has not only drawn reactions from Republican figures but also from within Biden’s own party. Democrat Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, representing the District of Columbia, spoke out against the wall, indicating that such measures only increase the disconnect between the government and the populace, at a time when public trust in the government is notably low. She expressed her concerns to CBS News, “Already, the distance between government and the people has grown, with trust in government at historic lows. We should not entrench that distance further by placing intimidating barriers between ourselves as public servants and the people we serve, especially when such barriers are neither effective nor necessary.”
The heightened security measures around the Capitol have underscored the ongoing debate about the need for similar barriers along the U.S. border. Republicans have consistently argued for a stronger border policy, often citing criminal incidents involving illegal immigrants as evidence of the current policy’s failures.
Biden’s State of the Union address comes at a critical time, with polling data indicating an average approval rating of 39 percent. Given that historical trends show presidents with ratings under 50 percent typically face reelection challenges, this speech could be pivotal for Biden’s political future.
Remember they put this wall up so fast on January 6th that it had to be restaged. I guess they knew there would be an “insurrection”. They knew that they were not in any real danger, but they needed a reason to ban the public from the inauguration because it would have been too embarrassing for the “most popular president ever” to only have a couple hundred people show up for it.
Was that a wall to keep people out, or to keep them from running away from having to listen to Biden?!?!