Biden’s disastrous debut: Disruptions and an empty auditorium

Despite the distractions, the re-election candidate tried to focus on warning about Trump’s return and promising the legalization of abortion, two axes of a campaign that has already begun for practical purposes.

Resigned, facing much disruption, Biden paused in his speech and said: “It’s going to take a long time, they’ve planned it”. Indeed, the White House’s support for Israel in its military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas attacks was accompanied by Palestinian flags and cries of “genocide.” Those who protested were organized: they carried divided seats across the auditorium and shouted as the president advanced. At each interruption, the Secret Service chased away those who were loudly protesting, and Biden continued to talk about the topics of the rally: Trump and abortion.

The auditorium, a 1,100-seat room, was not full when the rally began after 4:30 pm local time. Minutes before the president’s arrival, campaign workers ushered people down from the upper stands, but there were still large gaps in the stalls, which were only two-thirds full, including a large press release.

The rally was held in an auditorium at George Mason University in the state of Virginia, which is traditionally conservative but has voted for Democratic presidents over the years, with Barack Obama. It is true that Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin in Virginia is quite popular, but in November 2023 his party It suffered a major setback as it lost its majority in the state assembly. Republicans proposed limiting abortion to 15 weeks if they were successful in winning those state elections.

This first rally of Biden and Harris in 2024 focused on specifically attacking Trump for building a conservative majority on the Supreme Court that allowed him to overturn his own 1973 ruling that legalized abortion up to fetal viability, later known as the legal term. . No. Roe Vs. Wade’.

However, the president could not concentrate on his message, and had to rush to finish. At one point a woman sitting in the auditorium told him, “Keep talking.”

Biden spoke about Trump again: “There is one person who has no idea about the power of women in this country, and that is Donald Trump.”. It’s clear from these first speeches that the Biden campaign already believes that Trump is going to win the Republican primary and that the female vote will be key.

Vice President Harris explained in his speech: “Across the country, women are suffering and they have a clear idea who is responsible. Former President Trump hand-picked three Supreme Court justices because he wanted them to uphold Roe v. Wade, and has put our liberties at risk.” He is the architect of this health care crisis.”

Although Harrison did not receive high ratings in popularity polls, she received a more animated reception in this hall than the president. Harris is very popular among the Democratic base, especially among the women at the rally, especially given the fact that if something were to happen to the 81-year-old president, she would be the first woman to become president.

As made clear at this first Biden and Harris rally in 2024, Democrats are counting on abortion restrictions to keep them in the White House. His claim is due to the fact that in conservative states that have banned abortion since the Supreme Court’s decision, voters have periodically opposed it. In 2022, for example, in the ultra-conservative state of Kentucky, voters voted ‘no’ to an amendment to the state constitution that would have invalidated the so-called right to abortion. Something similar happened in Ohio and Kansas.

After the Supreme Court’s latest ruling, in June 2022, abortion is up to the states. The magistrates overturned their ruling that allowed abortions across the US until “fetal viability”, which was established in practice around 22 or 23 weeks of pregnancy. After Trump appointed three of the Supreme Court’s nine justices—Neil Gorsuch, Brett Cavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett—he authorized a reevaluation and reversal of the 1973 ruling.

Biden and Harris start the campaign with mixed polls. If Trump wins, he gets a slight advantage in the direct vote, though it’s too early to take the polls as good. Nikki Haley, the candidate for the Republican primaries who has been Trump’s last challenger and who is confident of a good result in the primaries in New Hampshire this Tuesday, is further away from the current president.

The election is on November 5. If Biden wins, he will be 82 years old when he takes office again, the oldest president in history.