During a fundraising trip to New York City on Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden encountered protesters brandishing “Genocide Joe” placards who disrupted traffic and at one point stalled his motorcade.
Biden attended a meeting of nearly 20 business leaders at the home of Larry Linden, who previously worked as a partner at Goldman Sachs, where he warned that former President Donald Trump would “undo everything we’ve done” and “we can’t let that happen.” The president reportedly also made two other campaign stops.
Anti-Israel protesters wearing “Not in Our Name” T-shirts, keffiyehs and face masks sought to disrupt Biden’s schedule during rush hour on Fifth Avenue near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they impeded traffic. Police handcuffed as many as 60 people and removed them from the scene. One protester with blue hair wore a “Jews Say Ceasefire Now” shirt. A larger group of protesters—estimated to have been in the hundreds—demonstrated at Columbus Circle to the west, which has been a popular spot for pro-Palestinian rallies since Oct. 7.
One sign held up by rally-goers read “Genocide Joe there is blood on your hands.” A large cardboard illustration of Biden rising above the activists featured him with red eyes and blood dripping from his mouth.
According to a CBS News report, protester Steve Bottocelli said Biden “will pay a price for this in this election because there are so many people, myself included, who will not be able to bring themselves to vote for him.”
Another activist at the demonstration, Margaret Palquist, noted that if Biden wanted their support, then “he needs to listen to the majority of Americans—the majority of Democratic voters, but Americans as a whole—who want a ceasefire in Gaza.”
