President Joe Biden appeared confused during a visit to Pennsylvania on Friday, where he received a less warm welcome from hecklers who branded him a “loser” and urged him to “go home.”
The 81-year-old appeared confused as he visited an Allentown-area bike shop, one of several small businesses he planned to tour there.
A video showed the president appearing confused for a moment as he was introduced to the store's employees, before appearing to compose himself and waving employees over to greet them.
Before he entered, he was harassed with shouts of “Go home Joe,” the New York Post reports. A few hours later, he was branded “Genocide Joe” by a loud mob of pro-Palestine supporters who lined the route of his motorcade.
The group chanted, “We will remember in November,” in reference to the upcoming election.
President Biden faced hecklers during a visit to small businesses in Pennsylvania on Friday
A video of him touring an Allentown bike shop showed him appearing confused as he was introduced to staff
The 81-year-old was branded a “loser” by crowds that gathered in the Allentown area, while others chanted “Go home, Joe.”
The president's motorcade was also approached by protesters carrying pro-Palestine posters and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza
Biden visited three stores to highlight the value of small businesses and talk about his economic record.
“My name is Joe Biden and I work for the governor and the senator,” the president said as he entered Nowhere Coffee Co. alongside Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania.
Biden ordered what looked like a smoothie. Apparently the onlookers in the coffeehouse knew who he was, and one of them joked, “It's a normal day.”
Elsewhere, his reception was less warm, and reporters wanted to know what he really thought about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's failure to disclose his hospitalization.
Asked if he had confidence in Austin, Biden replied, “I do.” Asked if it was a misjudgment on Austin's part not to inform him of his hospitalization, Biden replied, “Yes.”
They were his first public comments about his defense minister.
The Pentagon said Friday that Austin remained in “good condition” at Walter Reed Medical Center, that he had been in contact with senior personnel and was “actively” monitoring and directing the U.S. military's involvement in attacks on Houthi targets were involved.
Biden had previously indicated he would stand by his defense secretary, but White House officials agreed the situation was a headache.
The angry mob branded the president “Genocide Joe” and vowed to “remember this in November.”
President Joe Biden also admonished Lloyd Austin for his lapse in judgment when the defense secretary decided not to reveal his hospitalization, but said he still had confidence in him
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 70, was hospitalized on Jan. 1, but the Pentagon waited three days to release the information. In this latest picture he is pictured on December 20th
Austin finally announced on Tuesday that he had prostate cancer after initially refusing to say what he was suffering from and facing questions about his hospitalization for days.
The mishandling of the matter is now being investigated by the Pentagon.
Austin and Biden spoke this week ahead of U.S. and U.K. airstrikes on Houthi rebels around Yemen in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that took place late Thursday night.
Biden began the trip Friday without making prepared remarks before a weekend trip to the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland.