'Abandon Biden' protesters to descend on star-studded Radio City fundraiser
The "Abandon Biden" campaign is calling for protesters to descend upon President Biden’s star-studded fundraising event Thursday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The group, which formed to protest Biden’s “reluctance to call for a ceasefire in Gaza,” told its supporters that the protest will consist of a rally and a march and is a “critical call to action" that is "set against the backdrop” of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The New York Democratic primary takes place on Apr. 2, and the group also called on voters to “leave it blank” while voting.
“Leaving the ballot blank is meant to protest Biden, auguring his defeat in the November 5th general presidential election,” the group said in its release.
Biden is holding a fundraising event at Radio City with former Presidents Obama and Clinton. The New York Police Department has closed several streets and will limit pedestrian traffic near the event, NBC New York reported.
The current and former presidents will participate in a panel moderated by Stephen Colbert, and Mindy Kaling will host a lineup of musical performances by artists including Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele, The Associated Press reported.
“While Presidents Biden, Obama, and Clinton try to whine and dine donors in New York City, New Yorkers of all kinds have come out to voice their complete rejection of Genocide Joe,” "Abandon Biden" New York co-Chair Mosaab Sadia said in a statement. “We cannot idly sit by as our president aides and abets genocide in Gaza. The movement to Abandon Biden is only just beginning.”
Some progressives are pushing primary voters to cast their ballots for “uncommitted” or other rather than for Biden to send a message to the president about their frustration with his actions regarding Israel and its war with Hamas.
More than 45,000 Democratic primary voters in Minnesota selected “uncommitted” on their primary ballots this year. More than 100,000 in Michigan did the same.
Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke last week for the first time since Biden said the prime minister was “hurting Israel more than helping.”
Biden has insisted the U.S. is a close ally of Israel and supported the country in its war against Hamas, but he has also urged Netanyahu to scale back Israel's attacks and has increased efforts to send humanitarian aid deliveries to civilians in Gaza.