McCarthy on Biden State of the Union: ‘All he did was look mean and angry’

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) expressed his distaste for President Biden’s recent State of the Union Address Friday.

“He wasn’t speaking to the nation, what he was really doing is speaking to his party,” McCarthy said in an interview on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” Friday, highlighted by Mediaite.

“This was more about a convention,” McCarthy continued. “I think he was worried about Democrats removing him for the nominee. That’s why he came out – he tried to show every Democrat some – you know, you gotta be tougher, you gotta be stronger, and all he did was look mean and angry.”

Biden gave a fiery and energetic State of the Union address Thursday night. Current Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who followed McCarthy in the role after his ouster and the tumultuous period following, has also voiced his disapproval for the speech.

“People are saying that I made funny facial expressions. I tried to keep a poker face, but it was very difficult. I disagreed so vehemently with so much of what he said, and I think the people back home did as well,” Johnson told reporters after the speech.

“There’s a lot of memes, I guess, going around tonight about my facial expressions. I did not like the speech, I don’t think the American people liked it, and there wasn’t much I could do about that. I guess I didn’t hide that very well,” Johnson told Fox News’s Sean Hannity.

Biden also went after likely GOP presidential nominee former President Trump multiple times during his speech, a few days after Trump’s last major rival in the GOP presidential primary race, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, dropped out. 

At the top of the speech, Biden noted recent comments from Trump on NATO suggesting that he would let Russian President Vladimir Putin “do whatever the hell he wants” if NATO allies hadn’t spent enough on defense, calling them “dangerous and unacceptable.”