US President Joe Biden was interrupted by pro-Palestine protesters during his United Auto Workers (UAW) speech on Wednesday.
Videos posted to social media show the protesters being dragged out of the event on the floor during Biden’s speech, while UAW workers chanted: “UAW! UAW!”
In December, the union called for a ceasefire to be declared in Gaza, a move that put it at odds with Biden’s administration, which has firmly backed Israel since Hamas’ attacks on October 7.
The incident comes after Biden was interrupted by protesters more than a dozen times at a campaign rally focused on abortion rights on Tuesday.
Biden spoke after the union formally endorsed Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, after being courted by the both the president’s team and that of Republican rival Donald Trump.
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Both men supported the UAW’s successful strike action against the US’s big three automakers last year, with Biden becoming the first president join a picket line in support of the union.
Addressing the conference, the President said: “I honest to God have always believed the union movement in America is important because it produces the best skilled workers in the world. It’s good for everybody.”
He continued: “Our plan is delivering for the American people, building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down.
“When Donald Trump was in office, six auto factories closed around the country. Tens of thousands of auto jobs were lost nationwide during Trump’s presidency.
“During my presidency, we opened 20 auto factories and more than 250,000 auto jobs all across the country.”
The union’s president Shawn Fain, who has been fiercely critical of Trump said in his speech to the conference: “Joe Biden bet on the American worker while Donald Trump blamed the American worker.
“If our endorsement must be earned, Joe Biden has earned it.
“Donald Trump is a scab. Donald Trump is a billionaire and that’s who he represents,” Fain said. “This election is about who will stand up with us and who will stand in our way.”
The conference is where the 40,000-strong union’s leaders and delegates shape its political and legislative priorities.
Wednesday’s conference was the first under Fain’s leadership since he was elected the union’s president on a reform slate in March.
Biden has been endorsemed by the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the country, as well as the US’s biggest union, the National Education Association, which represents around 3 million people working in education.
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