On Thursday, President Joe Biden held an uber-fancy campaign fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The event was billed as an “Evening with the Presidents” and featured an “armchair conversation” with the presidential trio of Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton.
The cost of having a photograph taken with all three presidents started at $100,000. Donors who contributed at the $250,000 and $500,000 levels received exclusive invitations to separate receptions with the three presidents. The glitzy gala was deemed a fiscal success, raising a reported $25 million for Biden’s re-election campaign.
Only a select few members of the press pool traveling with the White House were granted entry to the event, and the news media was not allowed to record video footage during the program. Attendees leaked footage, including of Lizzo’s musical performance and of the presidential headliners’ stage entrance on a moving platform.
The Presidents are here @POTUS @JoeBiden @BillClinton @BarackObama pic.twitter.com/OFQTM2nkzV
— Sari Beth Rosenberg (@saribethrose) March 29, 2024
The program was interrupted several times by pro-Palestinian demonstrators inside the event, as well as protestors clashing with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in the streets outside. Several arrests were made.
The protestors marched along Sixth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan and gathered outside of Radio City Music Hall.
🚨#BREAKING: Chaotic scenes are unfolding as hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters clash with police
Chaotic scenes are currently unfolding outside Radio City Music Hall in midtown Manhattan, where President Biden, Obama, and Clinton are attending a… pic.twitter.com/P1TzTGocDw
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 29, 2024
Chants of “Down with the USA” and “Genocide Joe, has got to go” broke out as protestors waved Palestinian and other flags. Notably, in the video clip below, a transgender flag is being flown, as well as the flags of Yemen and the Dominican Republic.
“Down with the USA!” chants at today’s pro-Palestine protest in New York outside Biden’s fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall pic.twitter.com/I6u5XqAxLJ
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) March 28, 2024
Meanwhile, indoors during the Q&A session moderated by Stephen Colbert, one disrupter shouted at Biden while getting escorted by security, yelling,
Shame on you Joe Biden! Shame on you! Shame on you! You are f****** genociding Palestine and no amount of false concern that you do will change the [inaudible] that you are doing! You have blood on your hands! Blood on your hands!
BREAKING
Hamas-lovers disrupt Biden-Obama-Clinton mega-donor event in NY. pic.twitter.com/BqlTtyzTt2
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) March 29, 2024
When Protesters disrupted former President Obama’s remarks on Gaza, he responded,
You can’t just talk and not listen.That’s what the other side does.
This statement earned him a standing ovation from the audience.
Biden expressed understanding for both sides, saying there are,
…too many innocent victims, Israeli and Palestinian. It’s understandable Israel has such a profound anger and Hamas is still there But we must, in fact, stop the effort that is resulting in significant deaths of innocent civilians, particularly children.
On Tuesday, Biden conceded to pro-Palestinian protests during a speech in North Carolina, saying, “They have a point.”
Biden’s political opponent, former President Donald Trump, spent the day in attendance at the funeral of a fallen NYPD police officer, while Biden failed to make an appearance. Trump dedicated around half an hour at a funeral home in suburban Massapequa on Long Island, where he met with the widow and one-year-old son of Officer Jonathan Diller, who was tragically shot and killed during a traffic stop on Monday.
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