As his administration seeks to negotiate an end to the war in Gaza, President Joe Biden slipped a shout-out to anti-Israel protesters into his Monday night speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The convention has been besieged by pro-Hamas protesters who want progressive Vice President Kamala Harris, the party’s nominee, to drag the party further to the left in its rejection of Israel.
On Monday night, Biden said he feels their pain.
“We’re working around the clock, my Secretary of State, to prevent a wider war and reunite hostages with their families and surge humanitarian health and food assistance into Gaza now, to end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people and finally, finally, finally deliver a ceasefire and end this war,” Biden said in a clip of his speech posted to X.
“The protesters on the street have a point.”
The ones wearing Hamas headbands, waving Hezbollah flags, and screaming “intifada”?
This from a man who claims to be a Zionist.
This should be Biden’s “fine people on both sides” moment with one difference: he actually said it. pic.twitter.com/KkwGzMbIjw
— Ian Haworth (@ighaworth) August 20, 2024
“Those protesters out in the street, they have a point,” Biden said.
That led to a rhetorical question from conservative reporter Ian Haworth.
“The ones wearing Hamas headbands, waving Hezbollah flags, and screaming ‘intifada’? This from a man who claims to be a Zionist. This should be Biden’s ‘fine people on both sides’ moment with one difference: he actually said it,” Haworth posted.
Is Biden fit for office?
So I encountered an open Hamas supporter outside the DNC pic.twitter.com/MBv335E2Aj
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) August 19, 2024
Palestine Protesters use tools to topple the perimeter fence outside of the Democratic National Convention and STORM into a protected area
Video by @olgafe_images and @FreedomNTV pic.twitter.com/TlvCi5EqoA
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) August 19, 2024
The Trump War Room posted a clip of Fox News’s Bill Hemmer noting that the comment about protesters was an ad-lib.
“What does Kamala have to say about that?” the account posted.
Crooked Joe went off-script and said the Hamas rioters outside the DNC “have a point.”
What does Kamala have to say about that? pic.twitter.com/J7sBDvpu89
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 20, 2024
Although in the lead-up to the Democratic National Convention, the Biden administration had pumped out optimism about a deal taking shape to end the war in Gaza that might also avert an Iranian attack on Israel, the optimism is not shared in the Middle East, according to The New York Times.
Hamas issued a statement saying the Biden administration was sharing “misleading claims.”
Activists hope that Harris will be even more on their side than Biden, according to ABC.
“When she talks about it, you get the feeling that she sees that there are people there. When [Biden] talks about it, I’m not even sure that he feels that there are people there, and that’s come through,” Arab American Institute founder James Zogby said.
“It’s more than just tone, it’s more than just language used. It’s a mindset that people are feeling, and that does make a difference, and it does, I think, open a door. The question is, how wide?” he said.
