President Joe Biden has often expressed admiration for John Walsh, his football coach at Archmere Academy in Claymont. Unannounced, Biden attended Walsh’s induction to the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 when he was vice president and hosted Archmere’s 2021 state champions at the White House last July 4.
Biden summoned his former coach’s wit and sarcasm to take a jab at Republicans in what became one of the signature remarks of his State of the Union address Tuesday night inside the U.S. Capitol’s House chamber.
“As my football coach used to say, ‘Lots of luck in your senior year,’ ” Biden said with a mischievous grin, even drawing a smile from Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy over his left shoulder.
His moment of off-script homespun humor came after Biden mentioned the Inflation Reduction Act. He said some Republican lawmakers have threatened to repeal it, drawing limited applause.
Signed into law last August, the Inflation Reduction Act directs federal spending toward lowering carbon emissions, cutting the deficit and reducing health-care costs.
What Biden, in his own clever way, seemed to be telling them was they might not be around much longer should they pursue such a repeal.
Walsh, who died in 2019 at age 83, likely employed the quip to subtly smirch a player who perhaps had a higher opinion of himself than the coach did. Biden was a senior starter on Archmere’s unbeaten team in 1960, when Walsh was voted state coach of the year by his peers.
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