Biden gets heckled and booed at rally for Terry McAuliffe
Dani Repass
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President Biden was heckled while speaking at a rally in Virginia on Friday, just moments before bragging about “whipping” Donald Trump in the state during the 2020 election.
“Let ‘em talk, that’s okay,” Biden said, stopping his speech after an unknown individual began to yell. “This is not a Trump rally. Let ‘em holler. Nobody’s paying attention to them.”
It is unclear what the individual was yelling, though it appears that he demanded “Stop Line 3,” an Enbridge pipeline project.
Biden was in Virginia to raise money for Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic nominee for governor. McAuliffe previously served as the commonwealth’s governor from 2014 to 2018, and is now running against Reupblican nominee Glenn Youngkin. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Youngkin in May, and doubled down on his support in July, calling Youngkin a “great candidate.” Trump lost Virginia in 2020 to Biden by 9%, or 451,138 votes.
“Terry and I share a lot in common – I ran against Donald Trump and so is Terry,” Biden said. “And I whipped Donald Trump in Virginia and so will Terry.”
McAuliffe, known in conservative circles as “Tricky Terry,” was the subject of an FBI investigation in 2016. The investigation focused in part on whether donations to his 2014 gubernatorial campaign violated campaign finance laws. Investigators scrutinized McAuliffe’s time with the Clinton Global Initiative – he served as a board member – as well as a $120,000 campaign donation from a Chinese businessman, Wang Wenliang.
Wang previously served as a delegate to China’s National People’s Congress, and was a high-dollar donor to the Clinton Foundation, donating up to $2 million. McAuliffe was cleared of wrongdoing, though that did not prevent Democratic Virginians from hoping their constituency would select a different gubernatorial nominee.
“While I respect Terry McAuliffe’s service, he doesn’t understand the problems Virginians face,” former state Del. and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Carroll Foy said. “A former political party boss and multi-millionaire, Terry Mcauliffe is simply out of touch with everyday Virginians.” McAuliffe won the June Democratic primary with 62% of the vote.
Video evidence of McAuliffe’s Friday rally with Biden showed half of the event space left empty, with roughly 500 attendees. However, a White House official later said there were 3,000 people in attendance. On YouTube, fewer than 500 people tuned in to watch the livestream of the rally, continuing a trend of low online turnout for Biden.
Virginia’s gubernatorial election is set for November 2, 2021, only 101 days from today.