OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Joe Biden’s handlers attempted to make him seem like the “everyman” his likely GOP rival, Donald Trump, is when they set up a visit by the president to a local convenience store en route to Pittsburgh International Airport to board Air Force One after giving a speech at the United Steelworkers Headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh.
Biden’s Thursday visit to the Sheetz convenience mart, where he bought some sandwiches for construction workers building a new terminal at the airport, was greeted with much less fanfare than Trump’s Bodega visit in Harlem earlier this week, according to videos posted online.
While there, Biden stumbled through some questions, then shuffled out of the store to his motorcade.
“While the Pittsburgh Post Gazette also reported that Biden was flanked by Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, the overall response to his presence seemed incredibly tame for a sitting president only a few months away from his re-election bid,” The Western Journal noted.
WATCH:
Biden visit a Sheetz gas station in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania pic.twitter.com/x0ba0UQHFJ
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) April 17, 2024
Meanwhile…
Chants of “WE LOVE TRUMP!” break out as Trump visits a bodega in Harlem.pic.twitter.com/fVwkLHUr9r
— GOP (@GOP) April 17, 2024
Flippin genius.
President Trump leaves NY starchamber show-trial and stops at bodega in Harlem.
The crowd loves him.
(Credit @RSBNetwork) pic.twitter.com/jHJYPxWxpB
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) April 16, 2024
The Journal added:
This wasn’t just any bodega. This was the “Jose Alba bodega” where, in 2022, a worker named Jose Alba fatally stabbed an assailant who came behind the counter to attack him. Alba was arrested and charged with murder by Bragg.
After being sent to Ryker’s Island jail with a bail of $250,000, Alba’s charges were eventually dropped due to public outcry.
In a clip from the “Greg Kelly Report” on Newsmax that was posted to the X platform, the former president spoke about rampant crime that has plagued New York City’s bodegas, as an organization representing thousands of them publicly endorsed him.
Remember the man who defended himself 2 years ago and Alvin Bragg arrested and charged him? Trump pays a visit to the same bodega and is treated as a hero.
Love us some Trump! Make NY safe again. pic.twitter.com/mi6Q4sFjRx
— SweetPeaBelle (@SweetPeaBell326) April 17, 2024
Alba made headlines in July 2022 for stabbing 35-year-old Austin Simon after he and his girlfriend, Tina Lee, attacked Alba behind the counter, an incident that was caught on video and quickly went viral online. Manhattan District Attorney Bragg accused Alba of murder, though he was clearly attacked first and grabbed a knife to protect himself as he was being led out from behind the counter by Simon.
As reported first by Fox News, Alba “filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Friday alleging he was wrongfully prosecuted because of the Manhattan district attorney’s ‘racial equity’ policies. The complaint names Bragg, NYPD Detective William Garcia, and unidentified arresting officers and detectives of the NYPD as defendants in the case.”
The complaint says: “New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg and/or his subordinates, following Bragg’s policy to achieve ‘racial equity’ in the Manhattan criminal justice system, charged Plaintiff with murder in the second degree and asked for high bail at Plaintiff’s arraignment.”
It adds: “Despite the fact that Simon and Lee were the initial aggressors, it was Plaintiff who was arrested, incarcerated, and wrongfully prosecuted. While in theory, Bragg’s ‘racial equity’ policies are a well-intentioned attempt by him to implement even-handed justice, the means and methods employed by Bragg have instead had an opposite effect and resulted in discrimination against certain defendants based on race.”
Trump on Tuesday got what some would characterize as a hero’s welcome from a large crowd as he pulled up to Alba’s bodega in Harlem after his second day in a Manhattan courtroom for his hush money trial.
In the video, the crowds can be seen cheering for the 45th president as his motorcade pulls up to the destination. At one point, the crowd starts chanting, “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and “Four more years!” Crowds also chanted, “USA! USA! USA!”
Throughout the video, Trump is also seen interacting with the crowd, shaking hands, and talking with various supporters about several different topics as Secret Service agents kept a close watch. He also gave interviews to several news outlets, making remarks about the trial and telling reporters that a bodega association invited him.
“I respect them, and they respect me. They want law and order, they have a lot of crime…where their stores are being robbed,” he said.
