Vice President JD Vance even stepped in closer to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to whisper something in his ear…
Vice President JD Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had a nice little joke before Donald Trump’s first joint session of Congress.
On March 4, Donald Trump took the floor for his first joint session of Congress since becoming the 47th President of the United States. While he and Vice President JD Vance had presented a unified front in their tough stance against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his recent visit to the White House, Vance couldn’t resist throwing a little humor ahead of Trump’s address.
A video from the session captures Vance greeting House Speaker Mike Johnson, who joked about the two not wearing matching ties. Vance quipped, “We could have coordinated, I guess, but…” before leaning in to whisper something to Johnson, though the words weren’t fully audible. Pulling back, Vance continued, “By the way, I think the speech is going to be great. But I don’t know how you do this for 90 minutes.”
As the microphone was adjusted in front of them, Johnson, reflecting on his own experience, replied, “The hardest thing was doing it during Biden, when his speech was a stupid campaign speech.”
But as it turned out, Trump’s speech stretched well beyond 90 minutes, ultimately becoming the longest in at least 60 years.
The American Presidency Project, which keeps a close record of the lengths of U.S. presidential speeches, shows that Donald Trump set a new record for the length of a State of the Union address, surpassing several of his predecessors by a significant margin.
While presidents like Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan typically delivered speeches that lasted only around 40 minutes, former President Bill Clinton’s 2000 State of the Union address, which lasted 88 minutes and 49 seconds, was considered lengthy for its time. Yet, Trump’s speech last night eclipsed that record. In fact, Trump even bested his own previous record from 2019, which had lasted 82 minutes and 25 seconds, proving that his speeches continue to set new benchmarks for length.
Despite Speaker Mike Johnson’s comment about President Biden’s speech length, Biden’s longest address was only 67 minutes and 17 seconds—far shorter than Trump’s marathon 99 minutes and 32 seconds last night. One Twitter user, watching the clip of Johnson and Vice President JD Vance, humorously speculated: “I think Vance just whispered, ‘This is going to be the longest speech ever.'” Of course, Trump didn’t speak non-stop for the entire 99 minutes and 32 seconds; the clock was stretched by applause breaks and interruptions, including a dramatic heckling incident, which added time to the already extensive address.
