President Joe Biden's primetime speech from Philadelphia that was focused on slamming former President Donald Trump and the threat MAGA Republicans pose to democracy was interrupted on Thursday by a heckler who repeatedly chanted 'F**k Joe Biden". The heckler kept yelling "F**k Joe Biden" throughout the 24-minute speech, leaving other embarrassed.
Biden, however, joked about the heckler using a "bullhorn" and defended their right to voice their opinion. The president responded both times when the vulgar chant, which was joined by chants of the now-notorious anti-Biden rallying cry "Let's Go Brandon," as well as the sounds of a megaphone siren, disrupted the address.
Unexpected Guest
In his 24-minute speech, held in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Biden attacked Trump and the MAGA Republicans, branding them as threats to the Constitution who were out to "destroy American democracy."
In a departure from White House customs, two Marines stood at attention outside the auditorium, providing an almost dystopian backdrop as the 79-year-old Biden aggressively attacked his predecessor before being interrupted by the male heckler.
In a video of the outdoor procession, the jeerer can be heard yelling, "F**k Joe Biden!" during which the politician linked his 2020 campaign against Trump to a fight for the "soul of the nation."
The president responded both times when the profane chant, which was joined by screams of the now-famous anti-Biden rallying cry "Let's Go Brandon," and megaphone siren sounds, disrupted the address.
"They're entitled to be outrageous. This is a democracy," Biden said about 20 minutes into his speech as the heckling persisted.
"Good manners is nothing they've ever suffered from," he added.
The heckling could be clearly heard on the live television feed of the speech, which was in front of Independence Hall.
Biden Embarrassed
The president was thrown off-script prior to the disruption by the sirens, which he derided as coming from a "bullhorn," and further cries of "Let's Go Brandon." "Americans have often made the greatest progress coming out of some of our darkest moments, like you're hearing in that bullhorn," Biden said.
The term "Let's Go Brandon" became a political slogan adopted by Trump's supporters last year after a TV commentator misinterpreted a crowd yelling "f**k Joe Biden" as "Let's Go Brandon," in favor of NASCAR driver Brandon Brown.
In a speech concentrated on claims that Trump and his supporters are dangers to the nation, the president created a picture of what he called a dismal society if Republicans win the 2022 and 2024 elections.
The White House gave the speech the theme "the battle for the soul of the nation," and it largely emphasized pushing voters to reject both Trump—who is thinking about challenging Biden in a rematch in 2024—and his Republican allies.
"There's no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country," Biden said.
"MAGA forces are determined to take this country backward; backward to an America where there is no right to choose no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love," Biden warned.
"They promote authoritarian leaders and they fanned the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country."
In addition, Biden explicitly addressed MAGA Republicans who have refused to recognize the results of the 2020 election despite the fact that numerous court cases, state "audits," and investigations into possible fraud were unsuccessful.
Since Biden assumed office, Trump loyalists have been successful in installing opponents of the election results in state capitols across a number of states, and a sizable number of GOP politicians still refuse to acknowledge that Biden was elected legitimately.
