Pro-Palestinian protesters swarmed Radio City Music Hall Thursday night ahead of President Joe Biden’s $25 million fundraiser alongside former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Biden was called a ‘war criminal’ by those gathered, with one demonstrator holding up a sign that read, ‘Joe Biden Retire B****,’ a message aimed at the 81-year-old leader.
One video, shared by conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, shows a man getting shoved by members of the crowd and asking for police to assist.
‘Democrats you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!’ protesters shouted out, with drum beats helping them keep the time.
The trio of presidents have been at the venue for most of the afternoon – taping a podcast with comedians Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett for an episode of their SmartLess podcast.
Videos shared to social media by attendees show loud music playing as donors took their seats, with audience members seemingly unaware of the chaos happening outside.
Pro-Palestine protesters swarmed Radio City Music Hall Thursday night ahead of President Joe Biden’s $25 million fundraiser alongside former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton
One demonstrator held up a sign that said ‘Joe Biden Retire B***,’ a message aimed at the 81-year-old commander-in-chief
Protesters take part in a prayer to break their fast during Ramadan at a demonstration calling for ceasefire in Gaza, near Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan
Police officers clash with protesters ahead of President Joe Biden’s $25 million fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall Thursday night in New York City
Pro-Palestinian protesters showed up in droves to call for a ceasefire in Gaza as President Joe Biden and a slew of celebrities raise money in New York toward his reelection effort
Earlier Thursday, Biden arrived in New York with Obama in tow to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
On the flight Obama could be heard briefly saying hello to the White House press corps, as press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the conversation was off the record.
Obama’s involvement with the Biden campaign comes after several reports said the 62-year-old ex-president has been sounding the alarm about Biden’s reelection prospects.
At the Thursday night event the Democratic trio of presidents will hobnob with some of the richest donors.
They will be interviewed by CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert.
The Office and The Mindy Project star Mindy Kaling is set to emcee.
Former President Barack Obama (left), President Joe Biden (center) and former President Bill Clinton (former) will appear onstage together Thursday night and be interviewed by Late Show host Stephen Colbert as part of the $25 million fundraiser for the Biden campaign
Comedians Jason Bateman (left), Will Arnett (third from left) and Sean Hayes (second from right) taped an interview of their SmartLess podcast Thursday with President Joe Biden (third from right), former Presidents Barack Obama (second from left) and Bill Clinton (right)
Donors at the Democratic bash will be entertained by musical guests Lizzo, Queen Latifah, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo, and Lea Michele.
And for those willing to fork over $100,000 to the Biden campaign, they can have their picture taken with all three presidents.
Meanwhile on Thursday, Biden’s 2024 rival former President Donald Trump will attend the wake of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller at the Massapequa Funeral Home on Long Island.
Diller was shot and killed in the line of duty in Queens on Monday.
Guy Rivera, the suspect arrested in the slaying, has been arrested 21 times.
Former President Barack Obama (right) got a ride on Air Force One with President Joe Biden (left) ahead of their glitzy $25 million New York City fundraiser Thursday night
Obama (right) guided Biden (left) to the presidential limo as the duo of Democratic presidents arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. They will be joined by former President Bill Clinton
Time Magazine’s cover story last week chronicled two in-person meetings Obama had with Biden last year – one in June and then a follow-up in December, when the ex-president didn’t see the president’s campaign operation improve.
‘He expressed concern the re-election campaign was behind schedule in building out its field operations, and bottlenecked by Biden’s insistence on relying upon an insular group of advisers clustered in the West Wing,’ Time wrote, citing a Democratic insider.
A follow-up story in The New York Times Tuesday said that Obama is regularly dialing Biden – but he’s also phoning White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients too.
A senior aide told the paper that Obama has ‘always’ been worried about a Biden loss to Trump, and so he’s prepared to ‘eke it out’ alongside his former VP through Election Day in November.
Obama’s reported warnings are similar to what Clinton was saying behind closed doors ahead of the 2016 presidential election, which saw his wife, Democrat Hillary Clinton, shockingly lose to Trump, who had never held elected office.
In the book Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign authors Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen detailed how Bill Clinton feared that his wife and her campaign aides were taking some support for granted.
He suggested she go into communities that wouldn’t necessarily naturally vote for the Democrat just to show she was making an effort.
On Wednesday, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed rumors that Trump was planning to attend the wake Thursday at the Massapequa Funeral Home in New York
On Monday, officer Diller was shot and killed in Queens during a routine traffic stop – he leaves behind a wife and one-year-old son
Thousands of law enforcement officers observed the arrival of Diller’s body to the upstate New York funeral home, where his service will be held Thursday
‘He knew there was some power just in showing up,’ co-author Allen said in a 2017 interview with ABC News.
Obama has reportedly advised Biden that his field operations are being built out too slowly – bottlenecked by the president’s reliance on a ‘insular group of advisers clustered in the West Wing,’ Time said.
During Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign – which he successfully won against Republican Mitt Romney – he had hired 900-plus staffers by summer.
The Biden campaign, which is headquarted in Biden’s adopted hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, ended 2023 with just around 70 paid employees, though there’s a goal to hire 350.
Biden’s team said that the campaign is also planning to rely on staff at the Democratic National Committee to aid the state-level effort.