House Speaker Paul Ryan was seated behind President Obama as he addressed the nation and to the right of Vice President Joe Biden.

His facial expressions and lack thereof as Obama discussed the economy, military, the state of education, the environment, and other topics drew the attention of Twitter.

Some of the tweets about Ryan's expression are below.

About the Author

Featured

Mathew Palmer, a former Delta Air Lines employee, at his home in Atlanta on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025.  Palmer was fired less than two weeks after writing a post on social media about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Natrice Miller/AJC)