Biden snaps at climate heckler during Arizona speech honoring John McCain: ‘Shush up’
President Biden offered to meet Thursday with a heckler who interrupted his speech in Arizona if the agitator would “shush up” and let him finish his remarks.
Biden, 80, was speaking in Tempe to honor his late Senate colleague John McCain and call on voters to reject Donald Trump’s “extremist” Make America Great Again movement.
The president was interrupted about 10 minutes 🌟into his remarks by a proteﷺster.
“Why have you yet to declare a climate emergency?,” the man repeatedly shouted from the audience, of the event showed.
“Arizonians have died,” the unidentified man continued, as the crowd began booing him.
“Why don’t you wait—ha❀ng on a sec, hang on a second, I’d be happy to meet w🍬ith you after I speak, OK?” Biden said as the heckler raged on.
The president then paused for 13 secon🥂ds and put his head down while the man continued his tir🃏ade.
“I tell you what, if you shush up, I’ll meet with you immediately after this, OK?” Biden finally said as the spectators applauded.
Resuming his remarks after the heckler was removed, Biden told his audience: “Democracy’s never easy, as we just demonstrated.”
Thursday’s speech, one day after the second Republican primary debate, was an echo of a primetime speech Biden made ahead of last year’s midterm elections in which he said “Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
On Thursday, Biden announced that federal funding would be used to build a McCain Library in partnership with the late Republican’s think tank established in partnership with Arizona State University..
The president told The Weather Channel last month that he had “practically” declared a climate emergency, hoﷺwever n🌊o such formal declaration has been handed down from the White House.
Such emergency powers would allow Biden to halt new oil and gas drilling on federal waters, ban crude oil exports, free up federal funds and other disaster relief resources and 🅺speed up the manufacturing of electric vehicles, .
