A few thousand protesters greeted President Joe Biden Monday in Boise, Idaho, where Air Force One stopped for a few hours on its way to California (Biden spoke at a Monday night rally for embattled California Gov. Gavin Newsom).
Biden visited the Gem State on a sunny afternoon as part of a Western state tour to promote his administration’s ideological economic agenda.
The fact is a firefighter shouldn’t pay more in taxes than an entire tech company.
A teacher shouldn’t pay more in taxes than an oil company.
We’re going to cut taxes for the middle class by ensuring the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 13, 2021
In his first visit to Idaho since 2015, the president met with fire officials and Republican Gov. Brad Little at the National Interagency Fire Center in the capital city.
Biden focused on weather patterns, claiming of recent storms, “It’s not a Democrat thing. It’s not a Republican thing. It’s a weather thing. It’s a reality. It’s serious.”
Colorfully clad Americans opposed to the Biden agenda gathered early in the morning, carrying signs protesting everything from the president’s recent vaccine mandates to the tragic Afghanistan withdrawal.
Dan McKnight, chairman of Bring Our Troops Home, puts up photos of the 13 military who died in Afghanistan recently. He hopes 5,000 or more show up today. #idpol pic.twitter.com/71FRtwkVxX
— Carolyn Komatsoulis (@CKomatsoulis) September 13, 2021
Chants of “traitor” and “Joe Biden sucks” greeted the president, with people irate over his unconstitutional new vaccine mandates for tens of millions of Americans announced late last week.
Two Associated Press writers predictably decided to simply find a few of the more hardcore attendees and write a “news“ story about them. It was replete with obligatory bemoaning of the red state’s low vaccination rates, telling readers: “Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the United States and the state’s health care system is in danger of buckling as the delta variant sends COVID-19 case numbers skyrocketing.”
Despite being a rural, rugged state, more than half of eligible Idahoans are actually vaccinated.
Related: Biden Isn’t Even Pretending His Vaccine Mandate Is About COVID
AP writers Rebecca Boone and Keith Ridler also drew attention to how “[s]everal far-right groups leveraged Biden’s trip as a way to show their opposition to his administration. Among them was the far-right Idaho Liberty Dogs, whose members frequently protest events heavily armed while wearing militia-style clothing.”
Boise Police asked people to not block the road. A truck drove past playing a song with the lyric "Joe Biden is a criminal." #idpol pic.twitter.com/IfbrAs5470
— Carolyn Komatsoulis (@CKomatsoulis) September 13, 2021
Despite the hype, stereotyping, and disagreements, police report that the crowd remained peaceful.
Biden lost in Idaho by more than 30 percentage points last November, though the Boise area — home to about 40 percent of the state’s population — was closer.
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