The State of the Fashion Union - Suits, Statements, and Biden SOTU Highlights

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:13.679
Calarogu Shark Media. Welcome to ballot, where we take a magnifying glass to

2
00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:17.839
the political circus and sprinkle it with
a bit of glitter. Imagine, if

3
00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:22.160
you will, a world where Taylor
Swift's call to vote clashes with Trump's fashion

4
00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:26.120
line debut, and the State of
the Union turns into Fashion Week. Buckle

5
00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:30.480
up, folks, It's going to
be a bumpy, yet fabulously stylish ride.

6
00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:34.799
Stephen Colebear joked, it was kind
of a tense night because it feels

7
00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:37.280
like this might be the last time
we get a State of the Union,

8
00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:41.640
depending on what happens in November next
year might just be a kid rock concert

9
00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:47.200
and an immigrant catapult. Jimmy Kimmel
went with President Biden delivered the annual State

10
00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:51.320
of the Union address, and Biden's
speech was historic. It was the first

11
00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:56.000
time that the font size on the
teleprompter was eight thousand, and Jimmy Fallon

12
00:00:56.039 --> 00:01:00.479
added, Biden looked out at the
members of Congress and said, finally a

13
00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.760
place where I seem pretty young.
Oh boy. Thursday's State of the Union

14
00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.519
was like the Oscars of politics,
but with less singing and more shouting.

15
00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:12.439
Picture it a room packed with every
shade of power suit, where the dress

16
00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:18.560
code ranges from protest sheikh to glamour
with a side of agenda. The Democratic

17
00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:23.079
Women's Caucus rocked the all white look
again, a nod to those suffragist pioneers

18
00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:26.079
who fought for the vote while probably
never imagining their battle gear would make such

19
00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:32.120
a snappy fashion statement in Congress.
Then there's Marjorie Taylor Green turning her T

20
00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:36.879
shirt into a billboard with say her
name, Lake and Riley emblazoned across it.

21
00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:41.040
It's a twist on the Black Lives
Matter slogan, this time spotlighting a

22
00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:46.200
Georgia college student's tragic story. Earlier
in the day, The House was all

23
00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.840
about law and order, passing an
act named for Riley. That's all about

24
00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:55.040
locking up immigrants who dared to steal
or burgle. As President Biden strutted into

25
00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:57.959
the chamber, Green wasn't just there
to cheer. She was on a mission,

26
00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:01.640
armed with a a pin and a
plea for Biden to say her name.

27
00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:06.840
But when she tried to interrupt his
speech, Biden flipped the script,

28
00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:10.560
saying Riley's name and leaving Green to
vent on Instagram about being ignored. You've

29
00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:15.800
got to admire the strategy when in
doubt dress for the headlines. Evan Gershkevich's

30
00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:20.919
folks showed up in free Evan gear, making sure their son's detention in Russia

31
00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:25.360
got its due spotlight and oh the
glamour from unexpected quarters. George Santos,

32
00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:29.840
that congressman with a talent for fiction, made a comeback in a get up

33
00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:35.120
that screamed RuPaul's drag Race extra with
a sparkly studded collar and matching silver shoes.

34
00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:39.080
Doctor Jill Biden and VP Kamala Harris
brought their a game too, the

35
00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:43.919
First Lady in her calm sage suit
and Harris in a sleek black blazer,

36
00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:49.520
understated yet statement making. The night
was a parade of political accessories. Lapel

37
00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:53.960
pins and stickers were the evening's silent
commentators, with one hundred and fifty three

38
00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:59.800
stickers counting the days Israeli hostages have
been held by Hamas and Nancy Pelosi's Bipartisan

39
00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:04.879
News doing its part to bridge the
divide. In a vibrant display of political

40
00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:08.560
and fashion solidarity, dozens of Democratic
congresswomen made a statement at the State of

41
00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:13.360
the Union, not with their words, but through the power of the color

42
00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:17.960
white. Channeling the spirit and struggles
of early twenty century suffragists, these lawmakers

43
00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:23.680
stood united in their commitment to reproductive
rights, all while rocking a color that's

44
00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:27.919
as much about making a fashion statement
as it is about making a political one.

45
00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:32.639
These congresswomen, adorned in white and
sporting pins that boldly proclaimed fighting for

46
00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:38.120
reproductive freedom, were not just participating
in a fashion trend. They were reigniting

47
00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:43.520
the fight for reproductive health care and
freedoms at a time when those very rights

48
00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:49.280
are under siege across the nation following
the Supreme Court's Dobb's decision and a troubling

49
00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:53.199
Alabama Supreme Court ruling that cast a
shadow over the future of in vitro fertilization.

50
00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:58.719
The choice of white served as a
powerful reminder of the ongoing battle for

51
00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:03.080
women's bodily autonomy. In an era
where Donald Trump is selling sneakers and Santos

52
00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:09.080
gets snapped shopping at Hermes. Fashion
is the new political megaphone the state of

53
00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:13.879
the Union. It's the runway where
America's political elites show off their latest causes,

54
00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:17.439
wrapped up in designer labels or slogan
tees. It's a primetime spectacle for

55
00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:23.360
a Netflix nation where every gesture is
ripe for viral fame, and unlike the

56
00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:27.439
exclusive world of couture, political fashion
is something everyone can get in on,

57
00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:31.639
because nothing says grassroots campaign quite like
a T shirt that fits everyone. This

58
00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:36.040
wasn't your run of the mill State
of the Union affair. Typically we're treated

59
00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:40.759
to a laundry list of achievements and
promises as long as the Washington Monument,

60
00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:45.879
but this time it was more of
a show, orchestrated by Biden's team to

61
00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:49.600
paint the year ahead as a showdown
between two contenders. He kicked off with

62
00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:55.040
a nod to Donald Trump and ended
on the same note. In between,

63
00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.199
he poked fun at the Republican ruckus
in the room, baiting them with barbes

64
00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:03.160
and even swiping a pin for good
measure. For Biden, Trump was always

65
00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:08.800
my predecessor, never just Trump.
He didn't drop Trump's name, but he

66
00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:12.519
sure made it crystal clear who he
was talking about and who he was gearing

67
00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.560
up to wrestle in the political ring. He drew stark contrasts with my predecessor

68
00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:24.439
on everything from foreign policy faux pas
to pandemic mismanagement, and boy did he

69
00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.959
have some zingers ready, like quoting
Trump's love letter to Putin and calling it

70
00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:33.199
out as downright dangerous. He didn't
shy away from reminding everyone about Trump's attempts

71
00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:39.279
to whitewash the capital chaos, his
pandemic apathy, or his lackluster stance on

72
00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:44.160
China and gun control. This was
all deliberate. Biden's digs at Trump came

73
00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:46.959
before his own bragging or any talk
of new plans for the future. But

74
00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:51.600
then, in a spontaneous moment,
Biden went off script and threw a direct

75
00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:56.519
jab at Trump, practically daring him
to hop on board with a bipartisan border

76
00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:59.839
bill that Trump had torpedoed. It
was a clear sign of just how much

77
00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:02.800
politics is at play here and how
Trump looms large in Biden's sites for the

78
00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:08.360
road ahead. The President quipped about
his age with a twinkle in his eye.

79
00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:11.439
I know I may not look like
it, but I've been around a

80
00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:15.120
while, and let me tell you, when you get to my age,

81
00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:26.360
certain things become clearer than ever more. In a minute, Alabama Senator Katie

82
00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:30.240
Britt delivered the Republican response to President
Joe Biden's State of the Union on Thursday

83
00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:35.920
night, countering his critiques of the
GOP and his boasts about his administration's accomplishments

84
00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:41.800
by painting a starkly different picture of
the country under his leadership while offering a

85
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:47.079
contrasting vision under Republican governance. Speaking
from her kitchen table in Montgomery, Alabama,

86
00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:51.959
the forty two year old mother of
two focused her remarks on the challenges

87
00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:59.040
facing ordinary Americans tonight. It's time
for a frank conversation among American families,

88
00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:02.560
because the reality is we're all deeply
concerned about the future of our nation.

89
00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:08.959
The America we cherish and hold deer
seems to be slipping away, and there's

90
00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:12.720
a sense that the next generation will
face even fewer opportunities and freedoms than we

91
00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:17.480
did. She remarked during her roughly
seventeen minute address. I fear that my

92
00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:23.360
own children may not have the chance
to pursue their American dreams. Britt didn't

93
00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:27.000
mince words in describing the current state
of the American dream as more of a

94
00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:31.040
nightmare. The raw truth about the
state of our Union is this, our

95
00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:36.560
families are struggling. The individual who
disrupted President Biden's State of the Union address

96
00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:42.040
on Thursday night by shouting from the
balcony. Has been identified as the father

97
00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:47.040
of a deceased marine, and subsequently
he was arrested for the disturbance during Biden's

98
00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:51.639
speech, interrupted mid sentence with the
claim America is safer today than when I

99
00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:57.600
took office. The interruption came from
Steve Nikoui, who called out Abby Gate,

100
00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:03.199
second Battalion, First Marines. Capitol
police removed Nikoui, aged fifty one,

101
00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:07.879
from the chamber around ten fifteen pm
and placed him under arrest. He

102
00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:11.680
was charged with the misdemeanor offense of
crowding, obstructing, or incommoding Congress,

103
00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:18.319
which typically results in a fifty dollars
fine and release. In a surprising turn

104
00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:22.399
of events, at Joe Biden's State
of the Union address, disgraced ex congressman

105
00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:26.319
and known storyteller George Santos made a
bold announcement he's throwing his hat back into

106
00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:31.120
the political ring despite facing federal charges. Santos took to social media during the

107
00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:35.799
speech to declare his intention to challenge
his former colleague, Representative Nick Lolota for

108
00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:41.039
the seat. With a defiant tone, Santos vowed to engage in debates on

109
00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:45.519
the issues and highlight what he perceives
as Lolota's week track record as a Republican.

110
00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:50.799
Lolota, who played a role in
Santos's removal from office, hasn't minced

111
00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:54.480
words about his former colleague, labeling
him as a sociopath and an attention seeker.

112
00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:58.840
It seems the political arena is in
for another round of drama as Santos

113
00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:05.320
years up for a potential comeback.
And that's a wrap on today's episode of

114
00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:09.600
Ballot, where the worlds of politics
and pop culture don't just meet, they

115
00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:16.080
collide, dance, and sometimes wear
dazzling outfits. Remember, in the grand

116
00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:20.559
theater of politics, every speech can
be an encore, and every suit or

117
00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:24.200
sneaker a statement. Until next time, keep your ballots ready and your fashion

118
00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:24.840
game strong.