State of the Union address: US President Biden calls on Republicans to work together

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US President Biden during his State of the Union address

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JIM WATSON/AFP

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US President Joe Biden is currently delivering his State of the Union address.

The address to both chambers of the US Congress traditionally gives the President the opportunity to take stock of central political issues and to present his future course.

Biden turned to "my Republican friends" quite early on: "We were able to work together in the last congress, there is no reason why we can't work together in this congress and find a consensus on important things," said the president.

Conflicts would not advance the country.

In his speech, Biden is confronted with new majorities in Congress.

Since January, its Democrats have been in a minority in the House of Representatives, making it even more difficult for the government to pass legislation.

Republicans won a narrow majority in the House of Representatives in November's midterm elections.

The 80-year-old president is currently considering whether to run again for the 2024 election – observers believe this is highly likely.

However, a majority of Democrats are against a second term.

Biden delivers his State of the Union address to both chambers of the US Congress.

There are also members of his cabinet, the Supreme Court and high-ranking military personnel.

The White House also invited the following people, among others:

• RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, the mother and stepfather of Tire Nichols: The black man was beaten to death by Memphis police in January.

  The case has sparked a new debate about police violence in the United States.

• Brandon Tsay: In a shootout in Monterey Park, California, in January, he snatched the gun away from the gunman - and in so doing presumably prevented further bloodshed.

• Ruth Cohen, who survived the Holocaust: Three years after the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, she traveled to the USA.

  She volunteers at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

• Bono, the frontman of Irish rock band U2: The White House recognized the musician as a "pioneering activist in the fight against HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty".

• Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was badly injured in the head by a burglar with a hammer in October.

aar/dpa/AFP/Reuters