Biden and Obama Talk Back To Hecklers At Mega-Fundraiser — And Biden Breaks News About Israel Deal
President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama talked back to protestors who interrupted a blockbuster fundraiser, and President Biden revealed news about a deal that’s being worked on.
The Biden campaign held a record-breaking mega-reception at Radio City Music Hall Thursday night headlined by Biden, former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and a host of other celebrities. The event was repeatedly interrupted by pro-Palestine hecklers.
According to a transcript of the event, both Biden and Obama engaged with the hecklers. Biden expressed empathy for their position, but explained the stakes for Israel — and revealed that the other Arab countries are prepared to “Fully recognize Israel for the first time” if a deal is reached:
******* at this point the first protester (whistling and yelling obscenities about Russia and Ukraine) interrupted the conversation, followed by other pro-Gaza protesters, but the group continued.
SC: “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. Everyone in here saw the protests across the street before we came in, and this is a subject I was going to get to later but as long as it’s been brought up here, Mr. Biden, I wanted to ask you this question. As the leader of the United States and as the leader of the alliance of democratic nations, and also aware of the moral leadership that the United States provides the entire world. 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’ role should be going forward to ensure the most peaceful and prosperous future for the people of Israel and for Gaza?
**** more protesters
JB: That’s alright. Let them go. There’s a lot of people who are very, very — there are too many innocent victims, Israeli and Palestinian. We’ve got to get more food and medicine, supplies into the Palestinians. But we can’t forget, Israel is in a position where its very existence as at stake. You have to have all those people. They weren’t killed. They were massacred. They were massacred. And imagine if that had happened in the United States and tying a mom and her daughter together, pouring kerosene on them, burning them to death. 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.”
**** more Gaza protesters
“I won’t go into detail now. But look, I’ve been working with the Saudis and with all the other Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan and Qatar. They’re prepared to fully recognize Israel. Fully recognize Israel for the first time. But there has to be a post Gaza plan, and there has to be a train to a two state solution. It doesn’t have to occur today, but there has to be a progression, and I think we can do that. I think we can do that. That’s why we’re seeing more avenues open into Israel — excuse me, into Gaza— to bring food and medicine and there’s much more we can do. But I’m confident it can be done and Israel’s integrity, Israel’s security, where Israel can be preserved.”
**** CHANTS OF “4 MORE YEARS”
Obama would later scold the hecklers when they started up again, telling them “You can’t just talk and not listen– That’s what the other side does”:
*** more protesters
BO: “No, no listen. You can’t just talk and not listen… That’s what the other side does. And it is possible for us to understand that it is possible to have moral clarity and have deeply held beliefs, but still recognize that the world is complicated and it is hard to solve these problems.
The reason why I originally selected Joe Biden to be my vice president. The reason that I think he was one of the best vice president we’ve ever had, and the reason why I think he has been an outstanding president is because he has moral conviction and clarity. But he’s also willing to acknowledge that the world is complicated, and that he’s willing to listen to all sides in this debate and every other debate and try to see if we can find common ground . That’s the kind of president I want.”
BC: “I know there are many other things we need to talk about. 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.”
“Look, the world we live in is hard because you have to keep two apparently conflicting ideas in your head at the same time. But don’t forget ,those of you who particularly if you’re younger and all you know is the Israeli government denying the rights of the Palestinians… Joe Biden says he wants a two-state solution. We all lived through the same things. He’s not making this up. We lived this, and you should trust them to work for it. To work to ease the suffering of the totally innocent Palestinian citizens and not to allow Israel’s security to be lost over a bitter difference between the legitimacy of the Palestinians’ to statehood, which we agree with all three of us
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