President Joe Biden was reminded he was on a hot mic after the State of the Union address just as he finished revealing a wisecrack about a world leader and said “Don’t repeat this!”
The president blew away expectations Thursday night with a fiery State of the Union speech that many observers noted showcased the sort of energy and sharpness his team wanted to project and which Republican critics pilloried as overly “political.”
Biden’s speech scored with viewers in a CNN poll as well, 64 percent of whom had a positive view of the speech, with a massive swing in support for Biden’s policies from before to after the speech.
The president, for his part, appeared to relish the interplay that occurred with the Republicans who attempted to heckle him several times during the speech. He gave an impromptu tribute to slain nursing student Laken Riley after a member shouted, “Say her name!”
At other times, he giddily trolled the Republicans when they heckled policies that have bipartisan support.
The address was obviously a hit with the Democrats in the chamber, who applauded frequently and broke into chants of “Four more years!” at every opportunity.
The Democratic love continued after the address, as Biden mingled with the congress members and senators long after the speech had ended.
Cameras picked up bits of the conversations, including an exchange with Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) in which the president revealed
Bennet approached Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to praise the speech, and encourage the president to “keep pushing” on humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“I told Bibi — don’t repeat this,” the president prefaced, and revealed “I said ‘You’re going to have to have a come to Jesus moment!'”
After he was reminded about the cameras, Biden said “I’m on a hot mic here! That was good!”
In another humorous exchange, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) told Biden, “Nobody’s gonna talk about cognitive impairment now!”
“You know, I kinda wish sometimes I was cognitively impaired! Seriously.” the president cracked.
Watch above via C-SPAN.
Follow Mediaite’s coverage of the State of the Union here.