Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted President Biden’s multimillion-dollar, star-studded fundraiser Thursday while he was holding a discussion with former Presidents Obama and Clinton.
Comedian Stephen Colbert was moderating the discussion at Radio City Music Hall in New York City when protesters began yelling from the crowd.
“I want to point out that we are 10 minutes in, and I have asked one question. I want to do a quick lightning round here: Do any of you have plans to sell golden sneakers or $60 bibles? Show of hands?” Colbert asked, mocking former President Trump’s recent merchandise sales.
“No golden sneakers,” Biden replied.
Colbert then asked Obama and Clinton what they miss about being president, and when Clinton started speaking, the first protesters began whistling and yelling obscenities from the crowd. Reporters in the room said protesters were yelling about Russia and Ukraine, and then protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza joined in.
“You’re out of your f‑‑‑ing minds,” yelled the first protester, who was escorted out of the room.
“Excuse me, Mr. President. For people who are watching at home on the feed, you may not be able to hear, but there’s some protesters here. There are some protesters here who are no doubt related to the protests we saw across the street,” Colbert said.
A protest organized by “Abandon Biden,” a pro-Palestinian movement aimed at withholding votes from Biden in the Democratic primary, descended upon the fundraising event outside Radio City Music Hall earlier in the day for a rally and march.
“There are people outside, and people in this room I’m sure, who have passionate divisions about what the best course of action is for the crisis in Israel, in Gaza right now. What do you believe the United States’s role should be going forward to ensure the most peaceful and prosperous future for the people of Israel and for Gaza?” Colbert asked Biden.
More protesters interrupted with yells of “blood on your hands.”
“That’s all right, let them go. There’s a lot of people who are very, very — there are too many innocent victims, Israeli and Palestinian,” Biden said. “We’ve got to get more food and medicine, supplies into the Palestinians.”
“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,” the president added. He was interrupted by more yells from protesters.
Biden said that “there has to be a post-Gaza plan, and there has to be a train to a two-state solution.”
An alternate crowd at the event then started chanting “four more years.”
The event in New York City brought in more than $26 million, according to the Biden campaign. It included a sold-out crowd of more than 5,000 people.
“When you look at a situation like we’re seeing in Gaza and in Israel, and your heart breaks, initially for a massacre of unbelievable cruelty,” Obama said. “It is also possible for us to say we unequivocally support the people of Israel and their ability to live and raise families and so forth, which is what Joe’s position has been.”
When that was also met with protests, Obama responded: “No, no, listen; you can’t just talk and not listen. … That’s what the other side does.”
Clinton, who helped broker the Oslo Accords in which Palestinians and Israelis agreed to recognize each other, defended Biden’s policy in handling the Israel-Hamas war.
“I believe that this is one of the most important reasons to elect President Biden. And I’m going to tell you why: because he genuinely cares about preserving the existence of Israel, which Hamas doesn’t. And he genuinely cares about giving the Palestinians a decent state of self-governance and the support they need for self-determination,” Clinton said.
Protesters continued as Colbert then asked the president about his State of the Union address and the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Biden has been met with protesters across the country since the war in Gaza began, with some interrupting his speeches to show their anger about his pro-Israel stance.
On Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C., protesters began yelling during Biden’s speech, asking the president, “What about the health care in Gaza?” Biden replied: “Everybody deserves health care.”
He has encountered protesters in venues or on the streets during nearly every trip he has made since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza, where more than 30,000 people have been killed in response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,100 Israelis.