Live updates: Biden travels to N.H. and Boston (2024)

Local News

President Joe Biden spoke in Nashua before heading to Boston for two campaign receptions.

By Ross Cristantiello and Emily Spatz

updated on May 22, 2024

President Joe Biden is in New England Tuesday, making stops in New Hampshire and Boston.

First, Biden will join veterans and their families at the Westwood Park YMCA in Nashua “to discuss how the historic PACT Act has delivered lifesaving health care and benefits to more than 888,000 veterans and survivors,” according to the White House. The PACT Act, which was passed in 2022, expands health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances.

The president is then expected to head to Boston for two campaign receptions. With TD Garden set to host Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and Pacers Tuesday night, Boston police are warning drivers to be prepared for street closures near Logan Airport, Back Bay, and the Seaport District.

Follow below for live updates on Biden’s trip.

Biden slams Trump’s ‘unified reich’ ad in Boston

During two fundraisers in Boston Tuesday, President Joe Biden called out Donald Trump for using language associated with Nazi Germany in a campaign video.

The video in question was posted to Trump’s Truth Social account Monday. It included hypothetical headlines about a potential Trump victory in November. Background text at one point contained the words “the creation of a unified reich.” The Trump campaign has said that it was posted by a staff member who did not notice the text. It was quickly deleted.

“A unified reich? That’s not the language of an American president. That’s not the language of any American. That’s the language of Hitler’s Germany,” Biden told a crowded room at a fundraiser in the Seaport Tuesday night, according to The Boston Globe.

The word “reich,” a German term for “empire,” is heavily associated with Nazi Germany. The term “Third Reich” was coined by a German author in 1922 to describe the idea of a new empire, united under a “Führer,” in the lineage of two previous Germanic Empires. It is now a common way of describing Hitler’s genocidal regime.

Trump’s rhetoric has grown increasingly extreme and xenophobic in recent years. At a Super Tuesday rally earlier this year, he said that “we’re not going to have a country left” if he lost the 2024 election. He has previously said that some undocumented immigrants are “not people” and claimed that migrants coming into the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood” of the country. Trump has said that members of the political left “live like vermin” in America. Nazi propaganda frequently utilized similar messaging.

The Biden campaign sought to highlight the Trump video multiple times Tuesday. At another fundraiser in Back Bay, Biden said that his opponent used “Hitler’s language, not America’s,” per the Globe.

The Biden campaign released a short clip of the president watching the Trump video incredulously. He asks if it was actually posted to Trump’s official account before using the same phrase about “Hitler’s language” he deployed during the Back Bay event.

Vice President Kamala Harris also touched on the Trump video during a speech in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

“Just yesterday, the former president of the United States, who praises dictators, who said there were ‘very fine people’ on both sides in Charlottesville … took to social media and highlighted language from Nazi Germany,” she said. “This kind of rhetoric is unsurprising coming from the former president, and it is appalling.”

Pro-Palestine protesters march on Congress Street in opposition to Biden’s policies on Israel

The Boston Party for Socialism and Liberation held a pro-Palestine rally Tuesday in response to Biden’s visit to the city.

In an Instagram post Monday, the group said it would rally at South Station starting at 3:30 p.m. to show disapproval of Biden’s policy toward the Israel-Hamas war.

“Let’s make it clear [Biden] is NOT welcome in our city while he continues to fund the Israeli genocide of Palestinians!” the post reads.

Video posted to the group’s page at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday shows dozens of people marching down Congress Street holding signs and Palestinian flags and chanting “Shut it down.”

One poster read “End U.S. aid to Israel now.” The Biden administration announced last week that it plans to sell $1 billion worth of weapons to Israel, AP reported.

Air Force One touches down at Logan

Biden landed at Boston Logan airport at about 3 p.m. and was greeted on the tarmac by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Governor Maura Healey, video from Boston 25 News showed.

The three spoke in front of “The Beast” for a couple of minutes before the presidential Cadillac drove off.

Biden touts success of PACT Act

Biden was expected to announce that his administration has processed more than one million claims from veterans injured by toxic exposures.

Biden touches down in N.H.

Biden landed in Manchester, New Hampshire, just before noon on Tuesday, according to video taken by WMUR.

Biden was greeted by multiple officials, including Republic Gov. Chris Sununu. Although he has blasted former President Donald Trump in the past, Sununu is standing by Trump in his rematch with Biden.

Protesters plan rally near South Station

Demonstrators blaming Biden for the devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza were planning to protest near South Station at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to an Instagram post from Boston Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Labeling Biden “Genocide Joe,” the group said that it’s goal is to “make it clear that [Biden] is NOT welcome in our city while he continues to fund the Israeli genocide of Palestinians!”

Biden has faced consistent outcry from the left over his continued support for the Israeli military since the Oct. 7 attacks.