President Joe Biden has received praise for giving the «most honest» closing line during his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.
«Thank you for your patience,» Mr Biden said when closing out his speech.
Robert A George, a writer for Bloomberg Opinion, called the moment «possibly the most honest closing line any president has delivered in one of these addresses to Congress» in a tweet on Wednesday.
Mr Biden spoke to Congress for a little over one hour about a number of topics, including his proposed infrastructure and jobs plan, what his administration has accomplished in the first 100 days in office, and the coronavirus pandemic – which has killed more than 574,00 Americans in the last year.
At the end of the speech, Mr Biden said: «We’re the United States of America. There is not a single thing – nothing, nothing beyond our capacity. We can do whatever we set our minds to if we do it together. So let’s begin to get together. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Thank you for your patience.»
The moment was not just noted by Mr George, but also several other members of the media.
Todd Zwillich, deputy DC bureau chief for VICE News, reiterated Mr George’s thoughts on the speech by also calling it «the most honest line I’ve ever heard at a presidential address.»
The Washington Post reporter Oliver Knox also called the moment one of the «most honest» ever spoken by a president to Congress.
NBC News politics reporter Henry J Gomez provided a little bit more context as to why the president potentially chose to close his speech with the line, noting how Mr Biden has previously apologised for being long winded and cutting off his statements.
«‘Thank you for your patience’ is really the fitting walk-off for Biden, who on the campaign trail constantly apologised for talking too long and at times cut himself off mid-sentence,» Mr Gomez wrote in a tweet.
Even former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who served under President Donald Trump, acknowledged the line in a tweet, but she was likely using it as a negative towards the Biden administration.
«A fitting end to Biden’s first address…» she wrote in a tweet.
Most viewers approved of the president’s first joint address, according to a poll by CBS News. The poll found that 85 per cent of viewers approved of Mr Biden’s address, while just 15 per cent disapproved of his speech.
This poll tilted heavily towards Democrats, though, with 54 per cent of viewers identifying themselves within the political party while just 18 per cent of viewers identifying as Republican and 25 per cent identifying as independent.
