How cable news reacted to the State of the Union

After the speech, came the deluge… of experts, of course.

Snapshots from President Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday divided mostly along partisan lines on cable news, with Biden’s on-air supporters praising his forceful speech while his regular critics suggested he seemed too agitated and spiteful at times.

Here’s a sample of comments from CNN, Fox News and MSNBC:

cnn

Dana Bash, senior political correspondent: “They wanted him to be a fighter and, boy, did he put up a fight.”

John King, Chief National Correspondent: “He came out punching and swinging from the start.”

Alyssa Farah Griffin, political commentator: “Joe Biden basically had to show up and not collapse on the stand tonight. And he surpassed it enormously, just objectively. There was some stumbling, some coughing, and he is prone to some types of stuttering. But he did show energy. He showed the ability to deliver a long speech.”

Van Jones, political commentator: “I thought he was an extraordinary guy, fiery, powerful and vigorous. And I think he gives people a lot of confidence that this guy could go all the way.”

Fox News

Brit Hume, chief political analyst: “There were a lot of stumbles and slurred words and everything else that we’ve come to associate with him. I don’t think he got away from that at all. I’m not sure if a person sitting at home tonight looking at the guy would think he was anything more than an angry old man. I’m not sure he was the kind of energy the public would want to see at a time like this in this country.”

Dana Perino, host: “I think this was a polarizing and divisive speech, and it was meant to be.”

Harold Ford Jr., co-host of “The Five”: “He brought a lot of vigor, a lot of energy.”

Sean Hannity, host: “He spent most of the night yelling, speeding up his speech, and clearly overcompensating for the average Joe who can barely string two sentences together. … Tonight, America saw, shall we say, a very different Joe Biden. You could call him ‘Joe Jacked-Up’. “

MSNBC

Nicolle Wallace, host: “This was his ‘How about apples?‘ speech. …Everyone knows this was a great speech. And everyone knows that if this is the message for the next eight months, the polls will soon reflect it and this will be a real fight.

Chris Hayes, host: “It exceeded my expectations. “I didn’t think this would be so aggressive or so sharp.”

Joy-Ann Reid, presenter: “I thought the speech was very ‘caffeinated.’ I think Joe Biden woke up this morning, had a cup of coffee, and ate his Wheaties. He was definitely there to fight.”

Lawrence O’Donnell, host: “I have never brought so much energy at 10 at night.”