A funny thing happened on Tuesday night: Donald Trump … kind of liked Joe Biden’s State of the Union address?
“Look, he worked hard tonight, it’s not a natural thing for him, it never was, and never will be, but you’ve got to give him credit for trying,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, where he gave a play-by-play commentary of the address. “I disagree with him on most of his policies, but he put into words what he felt, and he ended up the evening far stronger than he began. Give him credit for that.”
Sure, Trump tore into the Biden administration in a pre-taped State of the Union response, accused the president of lying about Republicans wanting to slash Social Security and Medicare, and claimed Biden was taking credit for things his administration started.
But even some of Trump’s dings against Biden sounded like there was a little hint of—dare we say it—fondness creeping in. When Biden accidentally called Sen. Chuck Schumer the “minority leader,” Trump said, “Can’t do that! Each time he’s going off script, he’s making a mistake. Hopefully he will improve!”
The former president also struck out against members of his own party. “Mitch McConnell looks like Hell,” he wrote, “so bad for the Republican Party!”
Trump even—could it be?—seemed to be cheering Biden on at one point. “He’s doing better now, far fewer stumbles!” he wrote.
In any event, Trump had kinder words for Biden than he did for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week. His most recent jab at his former mentee—and potential 2024 rival—was to call him a “groomer” based entirely on a photo of DeSantis taken two decades ago when he was a high school teacher. (DeSantis has not been accused of sexual misconduct by any authority.)
Maybe Trump just finds Biden less threatening than DeSantis right now. Recent polls suggest Trump and DeSantis would be closely matched in the primaries.
