Speaker Mike Johnson shakes his head and grimaces next to Kamala as Biden repeats debunked claim he reduced the deficit by $1trillion and criticizes the 2017 Trump tax cuts

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson looked disgruntled as President Joe Biden tore into his predecessors' tax cuts while taking credit for reducing the deficit by $1 trillion. 

The Louisiana congressman shook his head repeatedly and grimaced while sitting next to Vice President Kamala Harris for the State of the Union address.

Johnson sat in the traditional seat for the speaker of the House - who is second-in-line to the presidency after the vice president - and made the Republican's expressions highly visible to television viewers. 

When Biden said that Republicans wanted to put social security on the 'chopping block,' Johnson shook his head and rolled his eyes. 

He also laughed when Biden claimed that if he was presented with a border security bill, he would sign it. 'I'm ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now,' Biden said. 

Johnson was elected to the role of speaker after the ousting of Rep. Kevin McCarthy in October 2023 after a miraculous 21 days with no leader. It was the longest Congress was rudderless since 1962. That time it took 55 days to elect a new speaker.

A visibly annoyed Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson sat behind Biden's left shoulder throughout the one-hour, eight-minute speech

'People are saying that I made funny facial expressions. I tried to keep a poker face,' Johnson told reporters. 'But it was very difficult. I disagreed so vehemently with so much of what he said.'

Despite any disagreements, Johnson accepted Biden's handshake at the end of the speech 

Through most of the speech, the 81-year-old president's delivery was energetic and forceful enough to exceed even some Democrats' expectations. He spoke for over an hour

At other points Johnson gleamed over to his Republican colleagues as Biden listed off his achievements in office. The congressman did applaud when Biden mentioned creating new jobs that don't require a college degree. 

Despite the disagreements, Biden and Johnson did shake hands at the conclusion of the speech. 

Johnson released a video ahead of the speech with images of unrest at home and abroad, and said in his own words: 'America is at a breaking point.' 

Johnson invited the parents of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter imprisoned in Russia to the speech. 

He's also leaned into border politics and bringing two NYPD members — a lieutenant and an officer — who were attacked by migrants in Times Square. 

'People are saying that I made funny facial expressions. I tried to keep a poker face,' Johnson told reporters after the event. 'But it was very difficult. I disagreed so vehemently with so much of what he said.' 

Johnson's reactions were more subdued than those of former Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who at the end of then-President Donald Trump's 2020 address took her copy of the text and ostentatiously ripped it in two.  

Through most of the speech, the 81-year-old president's delivery was energetic and forceful enough to exceed even some Democrats' expectations. He spoke for over an hour.

'Trump and the Republicans have spent months going after Biden's energy and stamina and in front of the whole country, Biden giving them an absolute and well deserved scolding,' said Democratic strategist Eric Koch.

The hashtag 'yelling' trended on X, the former Twitter, in postings about his speech, and his slight cough seemed to become more persistent toward the end of his delivery.

'In my career, I've been told I was too young,' he said, to laughter, adding 'and I've been told I'm too old.'

Whether young or old, he has always known America's 'North Star,' he said - the American idea that 'we're all created equal.'

Some people have old ideas, he said, in an apparent nod at Trump. 'Hate, anger, revenge, retribution, are the oldest of ideas,' he said.