US President Joe Biden will deliver a campaign speech today at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner against the background of protests against his support for Israel's war against "Hamas", reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Placarded protesters chanted slogans against the killing of journalists in Gaza outside the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the annual meeting is being held. Hundreds of protesters encouraged journalists to boycott the event and booed administration officials as they entered.
Biden avoided large protests at the front of the hotel by entering through the back entrance, where he was met by smaller groups of protesters calling for a ceasefire.
During the century-old event in Washington, hundreds of journalists, politicians and celebrities gather in the hotel's vast banquet hall. The president often makes friendly remarks in his closing remarks directed at reporters and other guests in the audience.
The civil movement "CODEPINK" (CODEPINK) organized a march to the venue from a nearby park, arguing that "media in the United States spread anti-Palestinian narratives and ignore Israeli war crimes,", according to the movement's website.
The growing movement against the war in Gaza this year has not left Biden alone, including during a March fund-raising event in New York that was disrupted by protesters, Reuters notes.
The movement has recently spread to US universities, a sign of a growing rebellion among the Democratic core voters that Biden needs to defeat Republican front-runner and former President Donald Trump.
Kelly O'Donnell, president of the White House Correspondents Association, declined to comment on security measures at the dinner.
"The safety and security of our wards is a top priority for the United States Secret Service," said service spokesman Alexi Worley, declining to comment further.
Israel's six-month war against "Hamas" in Gaza, in response to the Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, has killed more than 34,000 people, Palestinian health officials say, and caused a humanitarian disaster for the enclave's population of more than two million.
According to Israeli data, in the attack by "Hamas" 1,200 people died in Israel and 253 were taken hostage.
The White House Correspondents' Association was founded in 1914 and since 1921 has hosted a dinner honoring the reporters who cover the presidency almost every year.