West News Wire: When a heckler interrupted President Joe Biden’s speech in Milwaukee on Monday, he displayed his combative side.
Uncertain of what the heckler was shouting, Biden responded, “God love ya.”
Biden encouraged security to back off as they approached the heckler.
Biden commanded, “Let him go.” Everyone has the right to be an idiot, you know.
The audience laughed.
No, he remarked. Everyone has rights, right?
Last week, when protesters interrupted a speech he was giving in Philadelphia, Biden used a similar line without the word “idiot.”
They can be obnoxious because it’s a democracy, he said, but he also added: “Good manners isn’t something they’ve ever had to deal with. However, history and common sense tell us that opportunity, liberty, and justice for all are fundamental human rights.”
Former President Donald Trump took the opposite approach at his rallies.
“Get him out! ” Trump ordered followers when a protester interrupted his speech during the 2016 campaign. “Try not to hurt him. If you do, I’ll defend you in court. Don’t worry about it.”
At another rally, Trump worried that protesters might have tomatoes.
“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them,” he said. “I’ll pay the legal fees.”
At a winter event in Vermont, Trump told security to take protesters’ coats before kicking them out.
“Throw them out into the cold,” he said. “Don’t give them their coats. No coats! Confiscate their coats.”
Biden asking security to let the “idiot” stay was celebrated by his supporters on social media, many of whom embraced the “Dark Brandon” meme and nickname that’s taken hold in recent weeks.
