First Lady Jill Biden spoke at Festa Italiana in Milwaukee Friday evening in the midst of the reelection bid of her husband, President Joe Biden, against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.
The First Lady hoped to emphasize her Italian heritage, but several times her speech was interrupted by protestors shouting what appeared to be pro-Palestinian slogans.
Earlier Friday, President Biden endorsed an Israeli proposal for a six-week ceasefire in Gaza. His announcement came after months of demonstrations by supporters of Palestine urging Biden to demand Israel halt military action that began after the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel last October. The protestors have also called for an end of U.S. military supplies to Israel.
But the President’s words Friday afternoon did not stop the protestors from shouting at his wife in Milwaukee.
At one point, the First Lady told a protestor who was about a dozen rows away in a seating area, “We can talk. You don’t have to shout at me. We only get things accomplished when we talk,” Biden said, to applause from most of the few hundred people in attendance.
After another interruption, the First Lady said to cheers from many audience members, “You know, I must say, even though it’s a little disturbing, thank God we live in a democracy.”
Some members also chanted, “Four more years!” during some of the protests emphasizing their backing of Joe Biden for a second term in the White House.
The First Lady’s grandfather, Domenico Giacoppa, emigrated with his parents from Sicily to the U.S. in 1900. The family name was later changed to Jacobs — the First Lady’s full name is Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden.
She told the Milwaukee audience that even though the names changed, “The values they brought across the Atlantic stayed the same: Loyalty. Generosity. Kindness. Faith,” she added. “I brought my Italian values with me to the White House.”
She said her husband is working to, “Help us and all communities, keep reaching for that bright future our ancestors were searching for.”
