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Attendees of a Donald Trump campaign rally chanted “Genocide Joe” at the former president on Saturday evening, using a phrase associated with pro-Palestinian activists about President Joe Biden.
Mr Trump was speaking at a rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening when the chanting began.
“Genocide Joe,” the crowd shouted, and Mr Trump paused his speech. He turned around to survey the crowd.
“They’re not wrong,” Mr Trump said as he turned back to the microphone. “They’re not wrong. He’s done everything wrong.”
The nickname for Biden has been widely used by pro-Palestinian advocates to protest his support for Israel’s war effort in Gaza. Since 7 October, more than 33,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to the Palestinian health ministry, many of them women and children.
Meanwhile, famine has already settled over Gaza, a top Biden administration official confirmed earlier this week. The attacks come in response to 7 October, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 200 people hostage.
Mr Trump’s apparent approval of the phrase was surprising, given his prior enthusiastic backing for Israel’s offensive. However, a spokesperson for Mr Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign clarified his official stance.
“As President Trump stated last night in his speech, he believes America must stand with Israel 100 per cent,” Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for Mr Trump’s campaign, wrote in a statement to The Independent on Sunday.
Yet, other recent comments from Mr Trump could be interpreted as a sign that his unyielding support for Israel is not guaranteed.
“You’ve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy,” Mr Trump said in an interview with The Hugh Hewitt Show that aired earlier this month. The former president added that he wanted Israel to “get back to peace and stop killing people.”
Just before his rally, Mr Trump appeared to blame Mr Biden for the Iranian attack on Israel on Saturday evening.
“ISRAEL IS UNDER ATTACK,” the former president wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. “This should never have been allowed to happen – This would NEVER have happened if I were President!”
Source: independent.co.uk
