President Biden has retreated to Nantucket, where he usually finds himself relinquishing the demands of running the country, but pro-Palestinian protesters have been able to track him down and remain a reminder of the troubles that await him.
Protesters spotted Biden twice on Friday, once when he left lunch with his family and again when they attended a tree-lighting ceremony. Each time, they chanted now-familiar slogans, including “Free Palestine” and “Biden, Biden, you can’t hide. We’re charging you with genocide!”
If the president heard them, he didn’t let them know: Biden focused on congratulating members of the children’s choir who performed at the tree lighting. A local official tried to prevent protesters from disrupting the ceremony, stressing that it was not a political event.
Biden’s staunch support for Israel has come at a price as his party is divided over the war in the Gaza Strip. His poll numbers have plummeted as younger voters and members of his party stand in favor of the Palestinian people, who have died by the thousands during Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
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NBC political correspondent Steve Kornacki highlighted last week how badly Biden’s numbers have fallen by revealing that former President Trump beat Biden in a hypothetical general match-up for the first time in the poll’s history. network.
“The gap is gone,” Kornacki said. “36% positive on both and actually Biden, one point more negative than Trump. That’s a big advantage for Biden, our poll says that advantage, even now, could be lost.”
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Biden had to delay the start of his annual post-Thanksgiving vacation with family as he spent Friday morning attending multiple briefings with national security aides, updating him as Hamas released the first phase of hostages under their agreement with Israel as part of a four-day ceasefire.
He then caught up with the family for their regular lunch, preceded by some local shopping and socializing with the Nantucket crowd before the tree lighting. The family ate at the Brotherhood of Thieves bar and grill, which bills itself as an “1840s whaling bar.”
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The president left Nantucket Books with a copy of Democracy Awakening by historian Heather Cox Richardson, whom Biden interviewed at the White House last year. He remarked that he cannot visit Nantucket “without going to the book store . . . we’ve got a tradition.”
The final stop before the tree lighting saw the Bidens stop at the Jeweler’s Gallery, where crowds wished him a happy birthday and took photos with the first family.
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The Bidens arrived in Nantucket Tuesday night, staying at the home of billionaire David Rubenstein. The Secret Service prepared the island five days before Air Force One’s arrival, including an influx of Massachusetts State Police Troopers to beef up security.
A view of the home owned by David Rubenstein in Nantucket, Massachusetts, November 24, 2021. President Biden is spending the Thanksgiving holiday at home with his family this week. (Gediminas Svitojus for Fox News Digital)
Rubenstein, a friend of the Bidens whose net worth is estimated at more than $3.5 billion, offered his estate to the family for their Thanksgiving celebrations since at least 2021, Forbes reported. He acquired the property in 1998 for $8 million with his ex-wife Alice, and expanded the compound with five additional guest structures.
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The luxury property on the coast on Abram’s Point includes several guest houses, tennis courts, hot tubs and pools and has an estimated total value of more than $34 million, according to the Nantucket Assessor’s office.
Chris Pandolfo of FOX Business and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
