Hello, Joe now just go!
Jersey jeers on his bi-state Ida tour
President Biden on Tuesday traveled to New York City and New Jersey to tour areas struck by deadly flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida — and received a hostile welcome from some Garden State residents who heckled him and flashed middle fingers.
Biden repeatedly attributed the flooding that killed at least 58 people last week — 13 of them in New York City — to climate change as he pushed his $4.7 trillion infrastructure and socialspending bills.
A Manville, NJ, man interrupted Biden’s message by shouting, “Resign, you tyrant!” as the president toured a devastated neighborhood. A pool report said the heckler was standing with a Trump flag in his front yard. Reporters positioned between Biden and the man said the president did not react to the taunts.
Other protesters had greeted Biden’s motorcade along its north Jersey route.
Several were photographed flipping him the bird as he rode from Hillsborough Township to nearby Manville.
One person held a US flagturned-protest banner that said, “F--k Biden And F--k you for voting for him.”
Still, other people appeared to appreciate the president’s visit. He gave out hugs and words of encouragement while walking past Manville front yards strewn with water-damaged furniture.
A young boy approached Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) for help delivering to Biden a handwritten note that said, “I bet your parents are proud of you, Joe,” Politico’s Eugene Daniels reported. Booker took the boy to Biden.
But Biden’s trip also contained confusing moments — including when he said that the word “tornado” was obsolete.
“Looks like a tornado — they don’t call them that anymore — that hit the crops and wetlands in the middle of the country,” Biden said in New Jersey during a listening session with officials.
Biden got a warmer greeting later in Queens from Gov. Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer, Mayor de Blasio and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens).
“Climate change poses an existential threat to our lives, to our economy and the threat is here. It’s not going to get any better . . . [But] we can stop it from getting worse,” Biden said, surrounded by the New York Democrats who have been pushing the same theme.
Biden turned to Ocasio-Cortez, a self-identified socialist and coauthor of the controversial Green New Deal, saying, “I want to thank her personally for her gumption — the way she’s fought and hollered and fought so hard for all the people in this alley.”