There are 241 days until the presidential election, which will likely see Biden in a rematch against his predecessor and nemesis Donald Trump.

An aggregate of national polls shows Joe's approval rating is hovering at about 38%.

Amerca is gripped by a housing crisis, rising poverty and more than $US1.7 trillion in student debt, and Biden is under growing pressure over his unwavering support for Israel, despite growing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

An organised campaign for a protest against the president was on display in Michigan's primary result last week, with more than 100,000 people voting "uncommitted".

Biden, who is 81, is also facing questions about his mental acumen after a special report into his handling of classified documents labelled him as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory".

"If I was smart I would go home now," he joked as he reached the lectern in the House Chamber of the US Capitol to rousing applause.

But he didn't prematurely end his speech, instead using his State of the Union address to defend his record, to insist he's well enough to lead the country, and to unveil his strategy to beat Trump on election day in November.

Biden confronts the elephant in the room:

Amid a swirl of speculation around his age and fitness for office, Biden confidently strode to the podium, taking his time to shake the hands of friends and foes alike.

During the speech, which US media outlets have described as "Energetic", he did not shy away from addressing his detractors head-on.

After about an hour of talking, Biden touched on the questions about his age.

The 81-year-old referred to being "Born amid World War II, when America stood for freedom in the world" and went on to explain that at just 29 years old, he was elected as a US senator.

"In my career, I've been told I'm too young and I'm too old," he said, joking that he was once blocked from boarding the elevator because of his youth.

"…The issue facing our nation is not how old we are, it is about how old our ideas are," he said

The president may be hoping it was enough to ease the concerns of Americans following the special counsel report.

Voters are set to determine in November whether they want to give him another four-year term.

Gaza loomed large over the address:

Biden is also under pressure on a number of different issues particularly over his continued backing of Israel despite growing calls for the US to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The war in Gaza loomed large at the event, with protesters lining up in central Washington DC ahead of the address.

They were kept well back from the US Capitol by a ring of large fences.

Inside the Capitol chamber, Palestinian American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was draped with a keffiyeh, a traditional Palestinian scarf, which has become a symbol of support for the Palestinian people.

She's been outspoken in her criticism of the president's failure to put more pressure on Israel to stop the bombardment of Gaza, which has already taken more than 30,000 lives.

While other Democrats got up to applaud Biden as he began his speech at the podium, she remained seated.

At different points, Tlaib and colleagues Cori Bush and Summer Lee also held up signs stating "Lasting Ceasefire Now" and "Stop Sending Bombs".

Earlier, it was revealed Biden would announce plans for the US military to construct a temporary port in Gaza to allow more aid into the enclave.

Biden confirmed this would begin soon, while defending his handling of the conflict in the Middle East.

"I'm directing the US military to lead a mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters. No US boots will be on the ground," he said.

"A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day."

A lot of women wore white to send a message:

Many Democratic congresswomen arrived at the Capitol for the State of the Union dressed in white, which is regarded as a symbol of purity and non-violence.

White outfits have been spotted on the floor previously, most memorably in 2020, when women dressed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women first having the right to vote.

Led by then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi, the sartorial display was to show the ongoing fight to achieve equality for women across America.

In 2019, women also donned white in protest of Trump.

Both Biden's speech and the sartorial choices of Democratic women suggest the party has settled on a key strategy to attempt to defeat the former president in 2024.

The constitutional right to abortion access was overturned by the US Supreme Court in 2022.

Since then, some US states have restricted access to reproductive medicine, including Alabama, where a court ruling briefly banned in-vitro fertilisation.

"I promise you: I will restore Roe vs Wade as the law of the land again," Biden said.

"Those of you bragging about overturning Roe v Wade have no clue about the power of women … and we're going to win again in 2024."

While support for Roe v Wade varies from state to state, most national polls show a majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Biden will be hoping that a coalition of Americans who are concerned about reproductive rights will deliver him a second term.

Meanwhile, Republicans appear to know this might be an electoral weakness for them in November.

They chose Alabama's Katie Britt, the youngest Republican woman elected to the US Senate, to deliver the State of the Union reply, filmed at a kitchen table.

The president stuck with his Voldemort strategy:

With this week's Super Tuesday narrowing down the Republican candidate to Trump, Biden targeted his rival throughout his speech.

He went after Trump's records and policies at multiple points, but never referred to him by name.

Instead, he described him simply and dismissively as "My predecessor".

"My predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin quote, 'do whatever the hell you want,'" Biden said.

"That's a quote. A former president actually said that bowing down to a Russian leader. I think it's outrageous, is dangerous and it's unacceptable."

Besides attacking Trump's cosiness with Russia's leader, Biden also implored the audience to remember the former president's connection to the January 6th attack on the US Capitol.

"When insurrectionists stormed this Capitol and placed a dagger to the throat of American democracy. Many of you were here on that darkest of days. We all saw with our own eyes the insurrectionists were not patriots," he said.

"They came to stop the peaceful transfer of power, to overturn the will of the people."

Not naming Trump isn't a new strategy and follows the same approach Biden has taken for much of his presidency.

Given that the former president has almost universal name recognition, it's unlikely that Biden's failure to mention his name will do much damage to Trump's marketing.

But it might get under this skin.

Biden relished the chance to respond to heckles and boos:

While carefully avoiding the name of his Republican rival, Biden did attempt to tackle some of the issues that will be at the forefront of voters' minds in the upcoming election.

He also relished opportunities to take on his detractors, going off script to engage in a back-and-forth with Republicans in the audience.

When it came to the economy, Biden talked up his record from the last three years, pointing to low unemployment, job growth and efforts to curb inflation.

He also outlined his vision for the year ahead, which included reducing healthcare premiums, lowering the price of prescription drugs, and passing an annual tax credit to help home owners with mortgages.

But Republicans responded at times with boos, a response the president seemingly expected and was ready to hit back against.

When he suggested the last administration "enacted a $US2 trillion tax cut seemingly benefiting the top 1%, the very wealthy in the biggest corporations, and exploded the federal deficit", he was booed by some members of the audience.

"Oh no?" Biden responded to the jeers "You guys don't want another $US2 trillion tax cut? I kind of thought that's what your plan was."

The chamber erupted again when Biden was outlining how one of his bipartisan bills was the "toughest set of border security reforms we've ever seen", drawing a feisty response from the president.

"Oh, you don't think so? Oh, you don't like that bill, huh? That conservatives got together and said was a good bill? I'll be darned. That's amazing!" Biden taunted the Republicans.

Biden was also interrupted at one point by a loud heckler, who was swiftly escorted out of the chamber.

Republicans got rowdy over immigration

Perhaps the most partisan political issue in the US is immigration.

Polls suggest it's the biggest problem for the president heading into this year's election.

The number of immigrants arriving at America's southern border has swelled in recent years with Republicans firmly pinning it on Biden's administration.

The president has attempted to get a congressional deal done but pressure from Trump saw Republicans ditch it at the last minute.

Republicans wanted the issue front row and centred on Thursday.

Biden implored Republicans to work with him to fix the immigration system.

He also appealed directly to Trump, though again not by name, asking the ex-president to "join him in telling the Congress to pass the bill. We can do it together".

Given the gridlock in Congress since the 2022 midterm election, that seems unrealistically optimistic.

Original Story By | Carrington Clarke