President Biden used his State of the Union address to try to sell Americans on his economic agenda and called for renewed bipartisanship, but his appeals for unity were punctuated by Republican lawmakers’ loud objections to his remarks.

The annual speech—delivered in the House chamber before a joint session of the newly divided Congress on Tuesday—gave Mr. Biden, 80, a chance to test his message in front of a large audience weeks or months before he is expected to announce his reelection bid. Recent polls show a majority of Democratic voters don’t want him to run for a second term, and his approval ratings remain low.

Mr. Biden’s 72-minute address was interrupted several times by Republican lawmakers. One GOP representative was caught on camera calling the president a liar, and another yelled, “your fault,” when Mr. Biden spoke of the rise in fentanyl-related deaths.

The president sought to explain to the public how they stand to benefit from the trillions of dollars in spending Mr. Biden helped shepherd through Congress—including a wide-ranging infrastructure bill; a climate, healthcare, prescription-drug and tax package; and a measure to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. He argued that his policies have helped the U.S. economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic—pointing to recent positive economic news, including that the unemployment rate is at a 53-year low.