'The Ingraham Angle' on Biden's State of the Union

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Ingraham: Biden's SOTU shows 'failing administration'

Laura Ingraham blasts Biden for the failures of his first year in office and says his State of the Union speech was out of touch with what Americans are most concerned about.

This is a rush transcript of "The Ingraham Angle" on March 2, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Nice try. Yes. It's lent. It's lent, my friend. There is -- it's officially lent right now. There is no, there's no going to the bars. All right, Sean. Awesome hour.

HANNITY: You gave up alcohol for lent. OK.

INGRAHAM: No, it's just I --

HANNITY: We'll get back into that another night.

INGRAHAM: Yes, well, no, you wouldn't do that because you couldn't. All right, I'm Laura Ingraham. This is INRAHAM ANGLE from Washington. Tonight, we are hearing some alarming reports from Ukraine at this hour as morning breaks on day seven of the Russian invasion.

According to the Kyiv Independent, Russian paratroopers have landed in Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv, where they've attacked one of the city's military medical centers. Now, in other parts of the country, the shelling has been the most intense since the conflict began. We're going to have live reports on the ground throughout the hour. So, Steve -- stay with us for all of that.

But first, in a desperate attempt to reset the narrative of what is obviously a failing administration, Joe Biden tonight, delivered and address that sounded more like the state of the European Union at times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Six days ago, Russia's Vladimir Putin sought to shake the very foundations of the free world, thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways, but he badly miscalculated. He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead, he met with a mall, wall of strength he never anticipated or imagined. He met the Ukrainian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Well, Biden wants you to believe that this is kind of like "Rocky 4" and he sliced alone and Putin's Yvonne Drago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: But I want you to know we're going to be OK. We're going to be OK. Putin's war in Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger. We see the unity among leaders of nations, a more unified Europe, a more unified West. We see unity among the people are gathered in cities and large crowds around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: But by is more like Mr. Magoo stumbling around without his glasses on while Putin and Xi, at least, working together are trying to run circles around him. Now, after starting with an issue that just doesn't rank in the top 10 of voters concerns as all of our hearts do break, of course, for the Ukrainian people. Joe Biden tried his best to sweep aside the squad and mimic the populism of Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Most Americans, and most of the country can now go mask free, you can then the shutdown of schools and businesses. The answer is not to defund the police, it's to fund the police. When we use taxpayer's dollars to rebuild America, we're going to do it by buying America. The American rescue plan, help working people and left no one behind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Almost sounds like America First. There is no kabuki theater. Because in Biden's world, the plutocrats always end up running the show, regardless of all the phony appeals to Middle America. We're going to get into all of this now.

Joining us now is House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan, and Molly Hemingway Editor in Chief of the Federalist Fox News Contributor.

Congressman Jordan, this speech was kind of a thematic train wreck starting with the heartbreak and the horror in Ukraine, and then an attempt to kind of reframe everything they've done over the past 13 months as a, almost a populist adventure in addressing middle Americans concerns, your response tonight.

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Well, yes, and it was also nonsensical. When he, when he said he was going to secure the border, I mean, this is after a year of intentionally not securing the border, allowing two million illegals to cross not finishing the wall, not keeping the remain in Mexico. It made so many parts of it made no sense.

And my overall reaction was currently, 63 percent of the country thinks our nation is on the wrong track. My guess is after that speech, that number is higher, because so much of this made no sense. He said, oh, just lower cost and we'll fix inflation as if it's a magic wand. I mean, Shazam, it just happens? I mean, so it made -- so much we made no sense to me and I think that was probably the reaction of most of the American people.

INGRAHAM: Well, Congressman Scalise, President Biden also mentioned his solution to high gas prices. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Tonight, I can announce the United States has worked with 30 other countries to release 60 million barrels of oil from reserves around the world. America, we lead that effort. Releasing 30 million barrels of our own strategic petroleum reserve, and we stand ready to do more if necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Congressman Scalise, America uses 20 million barrels a day. So, other than depleting this precious reserve that we have, what good will this do?

REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): It won't do any good, Laura. And if you look, there were a lot of delusional things he said. What Jim Jordan just said is accurate too. But on energy, it's not rating the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that's going to move the needle. In fact, the last time you did it, prices went up, because people know, that's not the solution. If you want to really undermine Putin, take away the money he's making to go and invade Ukraine, open up American energy, it was working really well under President Trump. But it also undermined Putin's ability to have control over Europe. Biden gave him that leverage.

And by the way, Putin is making $700 million a day, every day that he's selling oil to the United States and Europe. We can take that leverage away by opening up American energy, raiding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which would then run out we would have no reserve left. Open up all the vast resources that we have, the abundant American resources. You will lower gas prices at the pump, and you'll take billions of dollars out of Putin's pocket, so it can't use it against the people to Ukraine.

INGRAHAM: Well, there was one moment. I want to get Mollie to this electric vehicle reference that Biden maid tonight, when he was talking about ways to lower the price of fuel for Middle America. And he said, let's cut energy costs for families, and average of $500 a year by combating climate change. They're not changing anything, are they Mollie? I mean, again, the populist rhetoric aside, they are sticking with the green-iac agenda come hell or high water, end of story, full stop.

MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: It was a great example of just how unserious this president was tonight. He had a rare opportunity to have a reset of his agenda. It is widely known that Americans do not have confidence in him. And this is one of those few times that he could actually articulate a knowledge of how bad things are addressing actual problems. And instead, it was like he gave a speech for a different country where things are sort of OK, and where the last year hasn't seen.

All these bad things happen as a result of Biden policies, our energy situation is bad, because Biden on day one decided to keep our energy from being produced. That's why Russia has leverage over Europe and the U.S. in part. The border is insecure, because Biden intentionally made it insecure. And rather than address these things, he just sort of tried to take credit for some things that were done in the previous administration and generally acted like all the problems that we all live with all the time aren't real.

INGRAHAM: Well, Congressman Jordan, the other issue that of course, when he started with talking about Ukraine -- we'll go to Scalise on this, when he started talking about Ukraine, he had to give the impression. I think he felt like he had to, that the administration was anticipating all that was coming, that the size of the convoys or the, the what Putin had in mind. And I want to play this part of the speech for you, watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We prepared extensively and carefully. We spent months building coalitions of other freedom loving nations in Europe, and the Americas tip, for America to the Asian and African continents to confront Putin. Like many of you, I spent countless hours unifying your European allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Well, Congressman, he's been finding that, of course, China continues to fund what Russia is doing. Mexico is not really helping us. The UAE doesn't want to condemn Russia. And India doesn't want to condemn Russia. So, we got European help. But we have major world Platt powers that are not wanting to get tangled up with Russia right now.

SCALISE: Right, and what parallel universe is he living in? Keep in mind, Laura, this is the same president who said right when Afghanistan was about to fall that Afghanistan wasn't going to fall -- in within 48 hours, the Taliban had control of the entire country. But if you look at what happened in Ukraine, a month ago, the Ukraine Government was asking America for help with surface to air missiles, for example. That was one of the things that they asked for months ago. Joe Biden said no.

Imagine how different things would be today if Ukraine had those surface to air missiles, all the carpet bombing you're seeing cluster bombs, bombing of schools and daycare centers and hospitals. They would be able, the people of Ukraine would be able to stop those planes and helicopters from coming in, but Joe Biden said no. And he's had a history of this. You know when he was with Obama and they were asking for tank busting missiles, Obama and Biden said no.

It was President Trump who gave them those Javelin missiles. Well, you fast forward, you go to what happened just in the last year, the Joe Biden didn't give him the arms that they needed. If he saw it coming, why didn't he help the people of Ukraine? They're trying to scramble to get things like Patriot or Stinger missiles in today. But there's a war going on in the country. It's kind of hard to get those arms in now. And by the way, you'd have to train Ukraine Army how to use those Stinger missiles. That's not working.

INGRAHAM: Yes. Congressman Jordan, at the same time, Biden, I think is, is trying -- he's seeing what's happening with public opinion in China. So, he's trying also to play tough guy with President Xi. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I told Xi Jinping, it's never been a good bet to bet against the American people. We'll create good jobs for millions of Americans, modernizing roads, airports, ports, waterways all across America, and we'll do it to withstand the devastating effects of climate change and promote environmental justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Congressman, I'm hearing him talk about environmental justice in the same paragraph, as he's talking about taking on President Xi of China? I mean, this man is completely removed from any sense of the way the world really works tonight.

JORDAN: No, no, exactly. And even if he wanted to do the right thing, as Mollie said, even if you wanted to reset even if you want to do the right energy policy, his party won't let him. The left controls the Democrat Party. I said in a committee hearing a few months ago, Democrat member Roe Khanna with the CEOs of all the major oil and gas companies, badgered every single witness and said, will you pledge today to decrease production?

And I looked at him, I said, what do you want $8.00 gasoline? And the truth is Laura, they do. They're committed to this crazy agenda. The good news is, the American people see through it, they understand how crazy it is. That's why there's a 63 percent disapproval rating for Joe Biden. And my guess is that number is higher after his speech tonight, and I think it changes coming that this midterm election.

INGRAHAM: Yes, I think all of this fell flat contrary to all the other networks saying that was an appeal to Unity. This was like a post 9/11 moment. Mollie, I have to get to something though, that was a really shocking appeal from Biden's tonight. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Stop looking at COVID as a partisan dividing line. See it for what it is, a god-awful disease. Let's stop send any seen each other as enemies. Start seeing each other for who we are, fellow Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Mollie, how many times have you come on the INGRAHAM ANGLE over the past two years, when Biden and his minions and the press have been vilifying Ron DeSantis, Kristi Noem, you pick your Republican Governor Abbott for endangering the lives of kids and putting science in the backseat. Now, he wants a kumbaya moment after he destroyed kids' education or his party did for the better part of a year, year and a half?

HEMINGWAY: The policies that he has been putting in place have been so divisive. This is a guy who's currently leading efforts to kick people out of the military, if they don't, if they don't receive the vaccine, even if they've made religious exemptions or appealed for some, some way to continue their service. This is a guy who said that just a few weeks ago, he's talking about how he lost patience with people who weren't vaccinated. His rhetoric on this has been so divisive. His policies have been extremely harmful to the country. And now, he wants to act like that didn't happen and it's infuriating to watch.

INGRAHAM: But there's also a point, I think, Congressman Scalise, that when you listen closely to Biden, I don't think they're quite willing to let COVID go completely. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I know some are talking about living with COVID-19. But tonight, I say that we never will just accept living with COVID-19, we'll continue to combat the virus as we do other diseases. And because this virus mutates and spreads, we have to stay on guard.

We can't build a wall high enough to keep out a vaccine, the vaccine can stop the spread of these diseases.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: OK, we weren't quite sure what that meant. You can't keep a wall to keep out the vaccine, but it's late at night. Congressman Scalise, it sounds like you know, they want to keep that, you know, card in their back pocket to be able to drop down on masks, again are closing for the next variant because the first shutdowns worked out so well for the country, or maybe just before the midterm elections and have mail-in voting. I mean, that's a cynical way of looking at what he just said.

SCALISE: Yes. And Laura, you know that this is all about government control. They want to control your life. But again, he talked about unity, and we've got to stop treating it as a political weapon. This is the president, Joe Biden, whose Administration called parents domestic terrorists if they dare go to a school board meeting and challenge these idiots that we're keeping their kids out of school, doing long term damage to kids; go on against the science that said kid should be in school because he wanted to bow to the teachers' unions, and he changed the CDC guidance even because the teachers union said they wanted it rewritten.

So, people aren't going to forget that he thinks maybe just by saying all of these things tonight, people forget what he did the last year, they're not going to forget because he keeps doing it. And if you listen, he kept trying to sell Build Back Better, the failed, even Democrats said enough of the crazy spending, he was trying to sell this idea of spending trillions more dollars and raising taxes.

He talked about inflation, and then he talked about raising taxes to 50 percent on companies, which by the way, means we're all going to pay more at the grocery store, at the shopping center if we go buy things. Thank God, we're not going to be able to that won't pass. But that's what Joe Biden still is trying to do. He doesn't get it, and the voters get it. And they're going to have a say in November.

INGRAHAM: You get the sense, Congressman Jordan, that the spinmeisters out there, and some of the other, other networks really believe that Biden's problem is a messaging problem, that if he comes out and delivers a speech without a huge number of gaffes that somehow everything's going to turn around, and front and center was CNNs Van Jones, watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN JONES, CNN HOST: He was trying to find some common ground. He did a very good job of humanizing the manufacturing, talking about this pacific, pacific place, it's going to be in the number of jobs and that kind of stuff. And he also was reaching out on cancer, reaching out on insulin. Tonight, the White House that just let Joe Biden be Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Congressman Jordan, I mean, there was the insulin, there was the water, there was the broadband Internet, I thought this was an Obama speech from like 2000 -- you know, 2009, at one point. I mean, this is, that was bad for Van Jones there.

JORDAN: Yes, the American people understand the facts. We went from a secure border to chaos, we went from stable prices to record inflation. We went from safe streets to record level of crime. We went from energy independence to the president begging OPEC to increase production. And those energy, just decisions that he made over the last year have contributed to this terrible situation unfolding in Ukraine. And that doesn't get even get into what they've done to our First Amendment liberties via COVID. So, that's what the American people see. They see the truth, they see the facts. And as Steve just said, I think a change is coming this November.

INGRAHAM: Mollie, apparently, certain Democrats after watching tonight, were not all that happy. Or maybe this was all part of the rebranding plan for them not to be happy, check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): It definitely was a lost opportunity, because the entire country does support, there is profound bipartisan support to a long shirt, a long, a long-term shift away from fossil fuels. We shouldn't be reliant on fossil fuels to begin with, and that would really solve a lot of these issues. So, you know, I think that there was, there's a lot more to be desired there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Mollie, they were trying to sweep all AOC and confident under the rug tonight, but they're still driving a lot of the policy, especially on energy, but she tried to pretend she was really disappointed in the speech.

HEMINGWAY: Well, I do think there is this problem that was referenced earlier of the Democrat base, keeping politicians from being able to move away from some of the policies that are so politically toxic, that, that AOC wouldn't be happy, even with the paltry thing that Biden suggested about like having a little bit more fossil fuels available is, is not a good thing. But also, you know, he talked about funding the police instead of defunding the police. After defunding the police had been a major Democrat initiative for years and particularly for, again, that hard left base. But it's worth remembering that the, the Democrat Party is pretty unified on all these things.

They like to pretend that some of their people are moderate, like Joe Biden, they like to pretend that he is versus some of these more extreme people. They all vote in lockstep. Almost everyone has voted with the Biden agenda. With just very few exceptions in the Senate. It is these policies that are unpopular, it's not Biden, it's not the way he messages things, it's the actual policies that are causing so much trouble for the economy, for our national security, for our sovereignty as a nation. That's what people are turning against, not individual personalities.

And I do have to say, I do think this was a difficult speech to listen to. I think President Biden should try to give speeches earlier in the day. You said he didn't have many gaffes, but it was actually hard as a listener to listen to him struggling so much to just start ticking eight basic words.

INGRAHAM: Well, there was, there are only 10 major gaffes, Mollie, that's a pretty that's a, pretty good number for Joe Biden at this point. It's great to see all of you late at night. Thank you, guys.

And Biden went into tonight's State of the Union address with an approval rating that's nearly 14 points underwater, according to the Real Clear Politics average. On the economy, he's 22 points under. On foreign policy, about 19 points. On COVID, four points. And Americans who think we're on the wrong track outnumber those who think things are going great by only 34 points.

Joining me now Tom Bevin, Co-Founder and President of Real Clear Politics; and Mark Penn, Former Clinton Strategist and Democratic Pollster. Tom, the message from Biden tonight seems to -- seem to be kind of like, we're not changing a thing, but the issue for Biden is that Americans don't like any of what they've done so far. It doesn't seem to be resonating.

TOM BEVIN, PRESIDENT, REAL CLEAR POLITICS: No, I mean, I do suspect he might get a short term bump -- a sugar high, if you will, out of this speech, given the media coverage that he's been.

INGRAHAM: Why? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, why? Because I've looked at some of those snap polls we're going to get to in a second, why do you think he's going to get any bump from this? Because of Ukraine?

BEVIN: Probably. I mean, I think --

INGRAHAM: OK.

BEVIN: On the other things on, on inflation in particular, he was wasn't very specific. He said, we're just going to lower costs. And as Jim Jordan just said, you know, how's that going to happen? I mean, look, at the end of the day, the proof is in the pudding. And a speech in on March 1st is not going to determine the outcome of what happens in November. It's about what, what people on the ground are seeing and feeling in their daily lives.

And unless the administration can really improve their standing on the issue of the economy and on inflation in particular, and on other issues, like immigration and crime and education. You know, it's going to be tough for the administration to turn that around. And it's going to -- it doesn't bode well for, for Democrats in November.

INGRAHAM: Yes. I mean, I think we've talked about this a lot all of us together over the past year. Is this a messaging problem? Or is this a policy problem? And I think we've, we've seen this as a policy problem, big policy problem, both on domestic, frankly, and foreign policy. And I mentioned the CNN poll, they just released the results of what they call the speech watchers poll.

And when it comes to addressing key issues enough, 69 percent said Biden adequately addressed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That goes to what Tom said. Only 47 percent thought the same for inflation. Only 46 percent thought the same for violent crime. The poll also asked if Biden speech made them feel more confident. Only 30 percent said yes, 14 percent said less confident, and it made no difference to 56 percent. The poll also asked which issue in Biden's speech was most important to them? 64 percent said the economy, 36 percent said Ukraine. So, in the end, CNN wasn't even able to spin this poll in Biden's favor. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Generally speaking, the these are lower marks than you would expect from a such a Democrat, disproportionately democratic audience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've seen over the last year Joe Biden take a slide in the polls, there's no doubt about it. He obviously has been on the decline. There's nothing in this speech that suggests he turned that around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Mark, that was like they all lost their best friend on that panel when that was revealed and those polls, do you agree?

MARK PENN, FORMER CLINTON STRATEGIST: Yes, that is not a good post-State of the Union poll, especially since those samples tend to be highly democratic. Look, I think it was a pretty accurate reflection. Recently, I got that the President was getting about 33-34 percent approval on Ukraine, why? Because the public felt that he didn't stop the invasion, and therefore that with failure of policy. And I, I think the President has a problem going out and giving the remarks he gave, if the Ukraine falls, he will again seem to have totally failed.

And, and he was strongest on that issue. And I think is the pole reflects. But really, once you're credible on inflation, immigration, crime, the economy generally, not really. And I think the poll really suggests that on the core issues where he's having problems, not a message, but a performance. He didn't do the kind of pivot, particularly when it comes to energy and energy prices, that would have made a big difference.

INGRAHAM: Well, and Tom, I think, to Mark's point, Ron Klain made a decision that they had to go with Ukraine tonight, that had to start the speech, and they had to really spend the most energy and emotion I think, on Ukraine. That's a big risky bet, given we don't know what's going to happen tonight, tomorrow night, if Putin is going to stay there -- if I mean, we have no idea. So, that, that in and of itself is much harder to control for Biden than for instance, really affecting gas prices if he dealt with the energy situation the way he should, correct?

BEVIN: Yes, and look, the other problem that Biden has, there was a Suffolk USA Today poll that came out earlier this week. He said, by two to one Americans don't think he's a strong leader. And he really was trying to project strength tonight. And that's why think they lead with Ukraine, in part, because it gives them an opportunity to do that.

Now, whether that changes public perception or not, we'll see. But to your point, it was a risky bet to lead with that, particularly when everyone knows that inflation in the economy is the number one issue in the minds of American has been for a long time. And but Biden, look, he has to recover, that, that the perception that he's a strong leader, and also that he's competent, because those are two of the things, the intangible things that he's really lost ground on over the past year.

INGRAHAM: Well, and Mark, the inflation issue, as we've seen, whether it's Bloomberg's reporting or the Wall Street Journal, this is -- or Goldman Sachs, this is not going away. This what -- not only wasn't a (INAUDIBLE), it's going to be with us through this year, into next year. And it could get worse if this Russian invasion ends up being an occupation.

PENN: Well, you had during the Trump years, almost about 70 percent, saying that the economy was doing great and going in the right direction. Now, we're really approaching 70 percent, saying the economy is going in the wrong direction. And as you know, if you're in, and people think that about the economy, that is the most devastating possible thing that you have to reverse, or at least seem to be on the side of people. And when I asked people about, hey, what what kind of inflation are you really feeling? It's gas prices and food prices. Those are the number one and two issues.

He tried a little bit to address food prices, but he blamed big corporations for that he wasn't again really credible and more detailed. And if you don't bring energy prices down, then I don't see how you're going to go into an election without the economy being a serious negative issue against the president and the Democrats.

INGRAHAM: Gentlemen, great to see you both tonight. Thank you for staying up. And now the war in Ukraine, Fox's Benjamin Hall is live in Lviv, near the Polish border with the latest developments. Benjamin, what can you tell us?

BANJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, the sun is rising today on the seventh day of this invasion. And frankly, there is a lot of fear about what it might bring. And that's because yesterday, we saw Vladimir Putin increasing his bombardments on urban areas, on residential areas. And he has warned, his defense ministry has warned, that, that will continue today. Yesterday we saw Putin's forces take out a well-known landmark, the television tower in Kyiv. And there is growing fear now that he's going to pull back and continue this crushing bombardment of built-up areas.

And they also rained down rockets yesterday on the second biggest city of Kharkiv. While Russia's defense ministry urged residents of both cities to flee today saying it was going to strike unspecified areas within the city and hit their communications. However, when it comes to that 40-mile long, armored convoy that we have been talking about, the one that had been bearing down on Kyiv, it has actually made no advances over the last 24 hours.

And a U.S. official now saying in fact that it has been beset by logistical problems, supply issues short on fuel and food. And there is growing talk that actually, this is not going the way that Putin hoped it would. And that is why he is doubling down. That is why he's using his heavy artillery. That's why he's using his rockets. The death toll, it keeps rising, and so does the Exodus.

The U.N. now saying that 677,000 people have left in the past six days, that number rising by about 100,000 today at the moment, again, no one knows what today will bring. But Vladimir Putin and his defense ministry making it very clear they are going to continue hitting these cities. Laura.

INGRAHAM: Benjamin, how concerned are your sources that the more of these photos which we've seen in the New York Times tonight, of presumably they look like Russian soldiers dead? Having lost their lives in this invasion, how that image broadcast around the world will further infuriate Putin into some mad act against innocents on the ground in Ukraine?

HALL: Well, that works two ways. I mean, yes, it may well infuriate Putin, though he's never shown any signs in the past about being concerned about the safety of his own soldiers. What it is actually more likely to do is infuriate some of his own people. And they always said that the problem was some kind of an occupation. The problem with getting bogged down here in the Russian death toll rising was that eventually they felt his own people might turn against him.

The fact is that we're, we're also learning that many of the soldiers who came into Ukraine, the Russian soldiers, felt that they were coming as peacekeepers so they would be welcomed by the Ukrainians. There are text messages that the Ukrainian had been Ukrainian government have been releasing between soldiers and their families back home saying we thought we were going to be welcomed when we arrived and now, we've been told to shell cities.

So, there is actually a concern on the Russian side, no doubt that this might turn Russian public opinion against him. But what is most likely to enrage Vladimir Putin is a sense of this is not going how he wanted. And if he finds himself backed into a corner, he's going to do what we've seen him do over the last day or two and that brings out the heavy artillery and hits the people. He's done it before. He did it in Chechnya. It is a playbook of his, when he's not doing well, he doubles down.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Benjamin, thank you for being with us tonight. Stay safe out there. And historically, Americans have rallied around presidents in times of international crisis, but that doesn't seem to be quite the case for Joe Biden.

Now to help us understand why, let's bring in presidential historian Craig Shirley, who's been watching all these developments unfolding, both with the State of the Union and the developments, of course, in Ukraine. The Biden White House obviously sees this as an issue that they think can help save his presidency in Ukraine. But Craig, you have doubts about this. Why?

CRAIG SHIRLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Really, it's gotten twisted up in domestic politics. You know he used to be the old adage, bipartisanship started at the -- at the nation shore. And it was true. You know, in 1941, after Pearl Harbor, the Republican National Committee, the Democratic National Committee actually got together and promised not to conduct partisan elections after that, that we were completely unified as a country.

We were unified during the Korean War, we were unified in the -- at least in the early days of the Vietnam War, something like in '68, something like 60 -- 55 percent of the American people supported the war in Vietnam. So it certainly the Cold War, there was bipartisanship support for anti- communism, that, especially in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, it started coming apart. And that's where the seeds are, is in the 60s and 70s, which produced the events of today, which is that we are no longer bipartisanship -- bipartisan when it comes to foreign policy. And that we're seeing that today in Ukraine. Of course -- yes.

INGRAHAM: Craig, is a part of this also because -- and I know you've written about this so eloquently and beautifully, the lack of civic education, the love of our founders, our history, even with all the difficulty, even with all the heartbreak, even with all the -- you know, the sin of slavery, that we're really not teaching our kids to love the country in school in so many ways. That's also missing today.

SHIRLEY: Yes, David McCullough, the great historian, said several years ago that we are now into our third generation of historically illiterate Americans. And it's true, I'm astonished. I was just at the Reagan Library on my book tour, my new book, and it's astonishing, the level of ignorance on the part of so many. And it's not their fault, it's not their fault -- they're not being taught it.

They're just not -- they have to go seek it themselves, either on the internet or the talking to somebody or reading books or something, but they're not being taught in American history. And the importance -- the importance, like for instance, State of the Union address is that it's important because certain -- sometimes good policies come out of it like Monroe in his seventh State of the Union address announced the now, you know, the Monroe Doctrine, which has become so important and so famous today.

INGRAHAM: Right.

SHIRLEY: Or that FDR and now support freedoms in the 19 (INAUDIBLE) --

INGRAHAM: We're a long way from that, Craig. We're a long way from FDR and Monroe Doctrine with Joe Biden. We are very barely able to hold a sentence together.

SHIRLEY: Yes.

INGRAHAM: Craig, I wish we had more time tonight, but you gave us a good grounding and what we need to do and what we need to know going forward. Thank you. And within moments from tonight's State of the Union, you might have missed, plus, all the predictable media adulation that followed. Raymond Arroyo returns, "SEEN AND UNSEEN," is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: It's time for our "SEEN AND UNSEEN" look at the State of the Union. For that we turn to Fox News Contributor Raymond Arroyo. Raymond, we're going to get to that little medallion around your neck in a moment but the media are already saluting Biden's speech, Ray Ray.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, ANCHOR, CNN (voiceover): It was a fairly solid performance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a -- it was a reminder of why people elected Joe Biden, right? Joe Biden was Joe Biden and for most of this -- most of this speech and I really think you could see his gravitas.

VAN JONES, FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Every single person stood with Joe Biden tonight. I thought that was Joe Biden at his best. Uncle Joe is back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Every single person is standing with Joe Biden. I don't know what speech they saw but this did not look like gravitas to me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but will never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people, preventing Russia's central bank from defending the Russian ruble. A pound of Ukrainian people, the proud, proud people pound for pound. It's time to see the -- what used to be called Rust Belt become this -- the home of a significant resurgence of manufacturing. Increasing the productive capacity of our economy -- our economy, I call it Building a Better America. There's simply nothing beyond our capacity. Thank you. Go get him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: What?

ARROYO: Go get him, oh.

INGRAHAM: Is this a home for a game?

ARROYO: Look, now bear in mind. I don't know. But bear in mind, the president reportedly spent hours rehearsing this speech. At times he looked lost, he was squinting, it was more like the stare of the Union, he kept looking off trying to figure things out. But you know, look, all of the kidding aside. Leadership, Laura is about unpredictability to keep your adversaries on their toes and clarity of communication. Joe Biden had neither tonight. And as you watch the syntax slip, it communicated weakness, unsteadiness, and frankly, that's why we're seeing our enemies emboldened and the media's constant reportage of Ukraine.

INGRAHAM: That was pathetic. No.

ARROYO: It -- all that does is distract from what I thought was going to be domestic affairs tonight. Instead, it was the state of Ukraine. Look, this address was --

INGRAHAM: Now, it's the state of the European Union.

ARROYO: Go ahead.

INGRAHAM: Kind of.

ARROYO: Yes.

INGRAHAM: It's the State -- it doesn't -- that doesn't hit home. I mean, people care deeply about it but people are focused on --

ARROYO: Of course.

INGRAHAM: -- Homefront, costs, kids, crime border --

ARROYO: Right.

INGRAHAM: -- Ukraine is part of it, but leading with Ukraine, I thought that was a miscalculation on their part but we'll see.

ARROYO: This address -- this address was notable or for the reappearance of that State of the Union performance artist, Nancy Pelosi. Now when President Biden -- Trump's spoke, she did her potent terror routine. Well, this time she was a spasmodic backup dancer popping up in clapping, making bizarre faces, readjusting her orthodonture but this moment took the cake. I call this dance move of the hungry fly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: From burn pits. Many of you have been there. I've been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan over 40 times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Look, she looks like a fly approaching the sugar bowl you know. But you know why she's so excited? Joe Biden is her Victrola. He plays out all of her dream --

INGRAHAM: For her kids, Raymond.

ARROYO: -- $15 minimum wage, free childcare, Build Back Better, taking on the gun industry, she's delighting. She's almost like a ventriloquist in the back.

INGRAHAM: I love this.

ARROYO: That's what this excitement is. Oh, yes, we're going to start doing this. This is going to be I do, sign off. Laura.

INGRAHAM: No, but, Raymond. Raymond, the funniest thing about this is that Biden hits the words burn pits. And she bolts up, like out of her seat like she's sitting on itching powder. I mean, burn pits. Yes.

ARROYO: It's amazing.

INGRAHAM: I don't know she said barbecue pit or what.

ARROYO: She got a second surreal. She could do a sign -- she could be a signer in one of those boxes next to somebody. You know she could be very, very respective.

INGRAHAM: Raymond, what did you make -- what did you make, Raymond as we begin the Lenten season about Biden's calls for unity tonight?

ARROYO: Well, it felt like lint came a heck of a lot earlier like we've been in it for two years. But as he called for unity, I kept thinking he's been demonizing police, separating people by race, and I'm wearing this in Jimmy and ducal, which I got his grand marshal of a parade here in New Orleans. We only have a few minutes left of Mardi Gras. But for anybody who took part in it, we saw racists come together with joy and love. The outpouring of communal affection, that's unity. Joe Biden could take a lesson, so could the entire country. Watch how Americans can and should get along, and I love that we did it right this Mardi Gras.

INGRAHAM: No, it was beautiful. We were there. I had Maria, my daughter, was there.

ARROYO: Yes, I expect you have been.

INGRAHAM: We had a lot of the anger Mangal spirit. And folks -- oh, there's Sam on this -- on this chair. Do you see her there? She was just wearing --

ARROYO: Yes.

INGRAHAM: Now, but Raymond did a great job. But it was -- it's to be together. We need to be together and find those moments of joy together as a people and get through the difficulty with some common sense and some patriotism. And Raymond, you did a fantastic job on it. And Damien, thank you for inviting us all.

ARROYO: Thank you.

INGRAHAM: And we're going to have other announcements about what we discovered in New Orleans.

ARROYO: Yes.

INGRAHAM: Where Fox nation coming up as well.

ARROYO: Yes, so give me Jims (PH). Happy Mardi Gras everybody.

INGRAHAM: Happy Mardi Gras. It's over. We're going to take you live in a few moments on the ground in Ukraine for the breaking developments there. So stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: We're continuing to monitor the situation in Ukraine. And for the latest, let's go to Fox's Chief Correspondent there Jonathan Hunt in Lviv. Jonathan, you just came across the Lviv border yesterday, so what's the situation like there in terms of the refugees we're hearing 670,000 so far?

JONATHAN HUNT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a fascinating journey in, Laura. You come across the border from Poland and they have had miles and miles and miles of refugees backed up there. I have to say that that number has dwindled a little bit over the last 24 hours, certainly when we came in the backup on the Ukrainian side of the border was probably a couple of miles of vehicles.

That's because the Polish authorities as well as those in Romania and Moldova, other bordering countries are waving women and children through now doing everything they can to ameliorate the refugee crisis. But, Laura, this -- the interesting thing here is I'm a -- I'm a child who grew up in Cold War Europe. I watched the fall of the Berlin Wall, we watched the collapse of the Soviet Union, we saw the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, and we have not really seen any kind of refugee crisis like there is now since then.

Also, checkpoints are springing up all over Ukraine now. They are manned simply by men with guns who want to do what they can for their country of Ukraine, Laura. And again, I have not seen those kinds of checkpoints on European soil since I was in Serbia during the Kosovo conflict. That's more than 20 years ago. Make no mistake, Laura, this conflict has changed the face of Europe, it is very much taken the continent backward. And the problem is with Putin in charge of his forces still, at this point, and determined to press those forces in and around Ukraine that nobody knows where this will end, Laura.

INGRAHAM: Jonathan, thank you, and stay safe out there. And joining me now is Maxim Sidorenko, a Ukrainian journalist who lived in Kyiv for 15 years. He fled days ago and is now in Tchaikovsky. Max, now your home, I believe it's about a kilometer from that television tower that was hit in the airstrike yesterday. All of your friends, many of them still there, do you have any idea if any of them are OK at this point?

MAXIM SIDORENKO, UKRAINIAN JOURNALIST: Yes. Hi, everyone. First of all, I would like to say that it's a real full-scale war in Ukraine. And right now Russians are targeting Kyiv, Kharkiv, as their main points to keep. I have really many friends in Kyiv. For some of them, I cannot get them. I cannot reach out because they're constantly sitting in basements of their apartments and in shelters, trying to hide because there are a lot of alarms and serins informing people about the possible airstrikes. So the people are trying to hide and trying to save their lives.

INGRAHAM: Now, Max --

SIDORENKO: And that would be -- Russia's targeting also (INAUDIBLE).

INGRAHAM: Max, we're learning that the city of Kherson in the south has fallen to Russian forces tonight, reports just moments ago that Belarus has doubled its troop numbers on the border. So what is the sense from the Ukrainians that you're talking to about where this may be headed because the Russian forces seem to be slowly but surely surrounding?

SIDORENKO: We are trying to protect ourselves. We have already shown that we can do that. No one knows what will happen next but we can already say that it's a bloody mess that is happening here and a bloody mess also for Russian troops. The place where I am to Kherson city, we are preparing to meet invaders all around the country. We create territorial defense forces. The country is mobilized more than 100,000 Ukrainians are ready to protect themselves with a weapon. And no one knows what will happen. But yes, Russians are going slowly. We didn't know it, so what will be the next?

INGRAHAM: Max, the defense minister Shoygu in Russia, his mother is actually Ukrainian born which I didn't realize until last night. So you know talk about the irony of all of this. He has Ukrainian blood running through his veins and yet he's helping oversee what is the brutal you know, take down -- attempt the takedown of Kyiv.

SIDORENKO: Here in Ukraine, we think -- here in Ukraine, we think that he has no mother and he has no blood and heart at all because they are -- they acting like animals. We all see in the morning, the last day in Kharkiv, how they bombarded just a civilian district. And that civilian districts my close friends live and they reported that there were no military objects there the same was the tower in Kyiv. So they targeted towers, they targeted cities, and houses close to where people died.

INGRAHAM: Max, we're praying for you tonight and the people of Ukraine. Thank you for sharing your story. And my final thoughts tonight when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Now, is anyone buying spin that sounds like this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, (D-MN): The most biggest moment for me was just the way he brought people together. Not just the world, big deal, on Ukraine but also the Congress. That was a big moment given everything that he has done to bring the world together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: The most biggest moment for me tonight was saying have a good night to all of you. That was just sad. All right, everybody, Shannon Bream takes it all from here.

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