President Joe Biden cast himself as the bulwark against the rising tide of threats to democracy, painting his predecessor Donald Trump as responsible for those perils.
Biden, in a sharply political State of the Union, repeatedly drew direct comparisons to Trump without mentioning him by name. He criticized his November opponent's restrictive views on abortion rights, among other top issues.
Reproductive rights
Democrats see the battle for abortion rights and women's health care as critical to persuading voters that Trump is pursuing an extreme agenda.
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The president's guests included a Texas woman who was denied an abortion even after her fetus was diagnosed with a terminal genetic disease, as well as a woman whose embryo transfer was canceled following a recent Alabama Supreme Court decision that halted fertility treatments in the state.
Biden directly blamed Trump for the "chaos" surrounding the issue and called for lawmakers to pass federal legislation protecting IVF and abortion rights and asked Republicans, "what freedoms will you take next?"
Inflation and drug prices
Biden vented frustration with persistent high prices, accusing businesses of taking money out of American's pockets.
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"Too many corporations raise prices to pad their profits – charging you more and more for less and less," Biden said. "That's why we're cracking down on corporations that engage in price gouging and deceptive pricing."
The president's new initiatives include a crackdown on insurance fees designed to lower housing prices and a proposal for a tax credit for new homeowners to offset high interest rates. He asked Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate prices on more drugs, cap Medicare co-payments, and limit annual out-of-pocket drug prices.
