KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Following President Joe Biden's State of Union address, Missouri and Kansas lawmakers reacted to his remarks.
Republicans representing Kansas and Missouri slammed Biden following his address.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley didn't attend President Joe Biden's State of Union address on Tuesday due a COVID-19 vaccine policy that was in place.
On Twitter, Hawley said he'd watch Biden's address from his home because he refused to submit a COVID-19 test before attending.
"I’ll be watching from home," Hawley said in the tweet. "I refuse to submit to a Covid test to sit in a room of fully vaccinated people in a Capitol ringed with barricades to satisfy Joe Biden’s Covid theater."
In his speech, Biden addressed Russia's invasion on Ukraine.
Missouri U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler agreed the U.S. must unite against the Russia invasion, but called Biden's first year in officer "disastrous."
"In just one year under his administration, our nation saw crisis after crisis riddled with inept leadership and incompetence," Hartzler said in part in a statement. "Americans experienced record inflation, empty shelves, and increased energy costs throughout the past year. Our border became wide open while our Capitol became surrounded by a wall."
Kansas U.S. Rep Jake LaTurner also slammed Biden after his address and said Biden's agenda has "exacerbated the challenges facing Kansas families."
"The state of our union is weak under President Biden’s leadership, and Kansans continue to face a laundry list of crises every single day," LaTurner said in a statement. "President Biden used tonight’s State of the Union address to double down on his failed agenda that has only exacerbated the challenges facing Kansas families."
Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids applauded Biden after the address, saying the nation has made substantial progress in his first year.
"I appreciated the President’s attention to those issues tonight, and I will hold him accountable to his words," Davids said in a statement. "We need clear and consistent leadership to tackle the concerns that I am hearing from Kansans and build on bipartisan successes like the infrastructure law and our work to bring down health care costs. I stand ready to work with anyone who shares that goal.”
Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran said the state of the union is "sobering," and said Kansans "are looking for a dose of long-overdue candor from President Biden and his administration."
“The state of our Union is sobering – we are up against the highest inflation in 40 years, record gas prices, surging violent crime, an historic number of migrants illegally crossing our southern border and alarming instability abroad," Moran said.
