As he spent Thanksgiving with his family, Joe Biden was heckled by a member of the public who called him an “armchair murderer”.
The president was pictured shopping with his granddaughter Maisy in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Saturday, though did not respond when shouted questions at by bystanders.
According to the White House pool, Mr Biden visited several local shops on Nantucket, including a bookstore and Ralph Lauren outlet. He also appeared to stop for a milkshake at a local pharmacy.
The president reportedly did not reply when asked “when will the hostages be released?”, but smiled and waved at people pressed up against shop windows.
As Mr Biden stood outside the Ralph Lauren shop a person shouted “shame on you”, with another calling him an “armchair murder”.
President Joe Biden walks with his granddaughter Maisy Biden as he visits local shops with family in Nantucket— (AP)
It was not immediately clear what the hecklers were referring to, though Mr Biden has faced fierce criticism for his full-throated support for Israel in its military response to the Hamas attack on 7 October, in which some 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 kidnapped.
An onlooker shouts "shame on you" as US President Joe Biden, not pictured, visits local shops with relatives in Nantucket, Massachusetts— (AFP via Getty Images)
More than 13,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the conflict, roughly two thirds of whom have been women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Mr Biden’s encounter with disgruntled locals in Massachusetts comes as hostage transfers and a brief ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continue.
Locals react as Biden walks past while visiting shops with family in Nantucket— (AP)
On Sunday the Red Cross received 17 hostages released by Hamas in the third exchange of captives for Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli Defence Forces confirmed.
Among them was four-year-old Abigail Idan – whose parents were killed by militants last month. Mr Biden has denounced the actions of Hamas as “unthinkable”.
