Psaki to Reporter Noting that Biden Is the First POTUS Since Nixon to Not Have the Date for SOTU: ‘A Little Bit of History, I Like It’

REPORTER: “The other thing is that as of March 1st the Congress has not invited the president to deliver the State of the Union address, meaning he has so far gone the longest of any president in his first year without confirming a date for the State of the Union, with the exception of President Nixon in 1969.”

PSAKI: “Well, a little bit of history, I like it.”

REPORTER: “Yeah. And who gave no address and waited until a following year. Is he going to follow that example or should we expect an invitation soon on the State of the Union?”

PSAKI: “Well, first, for clarity purposes — as I know this wasn’t your intention — but there is not — it’s not a snubbing happening here. We are in the middle of a global pandemic, and of course any joint session speech would — would look different than — than the past. We certainly intend on the president delivering a joint session speech, joint session, not a State of the Union, in the first year that they are in office, but we don’t have a date for that or timeline at this point in time. And we’ve been engaged closely with leaders in Congress about determining that.”

REPORTER: “OK. Do we expect an announcement soon on that or —“

PSAKI: “We’ll — we’ll see. We’re — we are in discussions, we are working with them and as soon as it’s finalized, we’re happy to share that with all of you.”