Biden speech in South Carolina church interrupted by protesters
Chants of "cease-fire now" were eventually drowned out by "four more years" at the campaign event.
TroibNews 
Protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict interrupted President Joe Biden’s campaign speech Monday at a historic South Carolina church.
A handful of protesters, chanting “ceasefire now,” were quickly shouted down by chants of “four more years” by supporters, during Biden’s speech at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, the site of the 2015 murders of nine people by a white supremacist.
“I understand their passion,” Biden said, acknowledging the protesters, as well as a rift that’s divided some within the Democratic Party. “I’ve been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza.”
Biden’s appearance at Mother Emanuel — coupled with his speech on Friday near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania — laid out the central theme of his 2024 campaign messaging: Voters face an existential choice between Biden, a champion of democracy, and his likely Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, who Biden said “attempted to overturn a free and fair election by force and violence.” It’s a stark contrast the Biden campaign hopes to cement in the minds of voters during the presidential campaign.
“There’s some in this country trying to turn a loss into a lie,” Biden said Monday. “This time, the lie is about the 2020 election.”
Biden reiterated that Trump is “a loser,” a line he used last Friday and one that prompted cheers from the crowd in South Carolina.
He also took a swipe at former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who initially declined to say that slavery was the cause of the Civil War during a campaign event last month.
“Let me be clear for those who don’t seem to know — slavery was the cause of the Civil War,” Biden said. “There’s no negotiation about that.”
Biden’s speech in South Carolina also comes as he faces weakening polling numbers, particularly among Black voters. Black political leaders, including Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), have said they are “very concerned” about the Biden campaign’s a bility to “break through the MAGA wall” to reach voters.
