‘Shame On You’: Joe Biden Gets Booed and Heckled on Streets of Nantucket

Joe Biden was booed and heckled on the streets of Nantucket on Saturday even as people protesting the war in Gaza were kept far away from the president.

The president’s motorcade even took a different route from where he is staying – David Rubenstein’s $34 million home on Abrams Point – into town to avoid driving past protestors gathered on the side of the road with signs saying ‘Free Palestine.’

A group of about 40 people calling for an end to the fighting in Palestine were kept down one end of Main Street in downtown Nantucket – about six blocks from where Biden was shopping with wife Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden and the first couple’s grandchildren.

The protesters held a large banner reading ‘Ceasefire 4Eva’ and chanted: ‘The pause is just a pause. A permanent ceasefire. Let Gaza live.’

Additionally, people in the crowds that lined the sidewalks shouted ‘shame on you’ and ‘armchair murder‘ as the president walked by while others booed. But there were also plenty of cheers mixed in with the cat calls as Biden supporters tried to drown out his critics.

Biden has become a target of criticism over his steadfast support of Israel, whose military has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in their effort to root out Hamas fighters responsible for the October 7 attack.

The president has spent much of this Thanksgiving holiday dealing with war between Israel and Hamas.

He addressed the first round of hostages released on Friday and spoke about it again on Saturday, saying ‘hopefully we’ll see something soon’ after zero Americans were released by Hamas.

But he also has spent a lot of time shopping with his family. He visited several shops in downtown Nantucket on Saturday, including the Murray Toggery, Mitchell’s Book Corner, The Black Dog, and Nantucket Pharmacy, where he came holding what looked like a smoothie.

He ended his shopping trip by going to 5 pm mass at St. Mary, Our Lady of the Isle Catholic Church.

First lady Jill Biden was with him for the shopping portion of the day. She had her own fans – one group of girls yelled at her ‘You slay Jill.’ 

It was her second round of shopping for the day. Earlier she was out with granddaughters Finnegan and Naomi.

Dressed in black workout gear the first lady stopped in Murray’s Beverage Store, the local liquor store, and then made her way across the street to the Ralph Lauren store. She and the two girls were trailed by SUVs and a large contingent of Secret Service agents.

Shopping is a traditional outing for the Biden family when they are on the small island off the coast of Massachusetts.

On Friday, the family had their traditional lunch at Brotherhood of the Thieves, a local pub, before walking the streets for some Christmas shopping and then attending the annual lighting of the town’s Christmas Tree.

Their first stop was Nantucket Bookworks, a family tradition.

‘Can’t come without going to the bookstore. We’ve got a tradition,’ the president told reporters.

Biden walked out of the bookstore carrying the tome Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson.

‘We’re having a great time, thank you,’ Jill Biden told reporters of their day.

The president then popped into Craftmasters of Nantucket, a store Hunter was spotted in Wednesday, where the first son purchased a pair of slippers – potentially a gift for the president as the family was celebrating his 81st birthday that day.

Hunter Biden, his wife Melissa Cohen and their son Beau were out Friday and Saturday with the president and first lady. Hunter’s daughters from his first marriage, Maisy, Finnegan and Naomi, were also on hand for both days, as was Naomi’s husband of one year, Peter Neal.

First daughter Ashley Biden and husband Howard Krein are also on the trip as are the children of the late Beau Biden, Little Hunter and Natalie.

Several of the grandchildren – Natalie, Finnegan and Maisy – held on to President Biden as he walked the cobblestone sidewalks, keeping a grip on his arm as he made his way over the crooked bricks.

On Friday night, the town’s annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony was interrupted by about a dozen protesters, asking the president to ‘Free Palestine’ and accusing him of genocide.

The president, first lady Jill Biden and their children and grandchildren were gathered alongside the tree in Nantucket’s town square as the town crier led the countdown for the lighting ceremony.

As the ceremony came to an end, fewer than 10 protesters at the front of the crowd unveiled ‘free Palestine’ and ‘end apartheid’ signs, directly in the president’s line of sight.