Pro-Palestinian demonstrators appear to have expanded their strategy of protesting President Joe Biden over his approach to the Israel–Hamas war, disrupting a political event first lady Jill Biden hosted in the battleground state of Arizona.
“Jill, when are you and the president going to call for a ceasefire in Gaza?” one demonstrator shouted at the first lady Saturday in Tucson.
Other attendees seemed to pull at the young woman before security eventually removed her from the premises.
Joe Biden has increasingly encountered Pro-Palestinian demonstrations amplifying calls for a ceasefire and hostage exchange almost five months after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. Last week, more than 100,000 Michigan Democrats, organized by the state’s large Arab and Muslim community, marked themselves as “uncommitted” instead of supporting the president in their primary.
Biden on Friday previewed the possibility of a six-week ceasefire, which will permit humanitarian aid “to the entire Gaza Strip, not just the south.”
“In the coming days, we are going to join with our friends in Jordan and others in providing airdrops of additional food and supplies into [Gaza] and seek to continue to open up other avenues into [Gaza], including the possibility of a marine corridor to deliver large amounts of humanitarian assistance,” Biden told reporters in the White House‘s Oval Office, mistakenly mentioning Ukraine and not Gaza.
“In addition to expanding deliveries by land, as I said, we’re going to insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need,” he added. “No excuses, because the truth is aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough now — it’s nowhere nearly enough. Innocent lives are on the line, and children’s lives are on the line.”
Jill Biden is on a four-state tour this weekend for her husband, with events in Georgia on Friday and Arizona and Nevada on Saturday before making her final stop in Wisconsin on Sunday.
The Bidens, in addition to Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, are expected to make more public appearances after next Thursday’s State of the Union address, a post-speech public relations push to underscore Joe Biden’s record and agenda before November’s general election.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The White House last Friday declined to comment on an NBC report last week regarding steps administration and campaign aides have taken to reduce the number of opportunities presented to pro-Palestinian demonstrators to protest Joe Biden.
“I have not seen that report,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the Washington Examiner. “I would just refer you to Secret Service on that one.
