Biden promised to meet a heckler in Arizona. But first, he asked him to 'shush up'

US President Joe Biden promised to meet a heckler later in exchange for him to “shush up” while he made his big speech on Thursday. Speaking in Arizona's city of Tempe, Biden unleashed verbal attacks on former President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, labelling it as “extremist. 

But as he attempted to honour his late Senate colleague John McCain and urge Americans to pay no heed to Trump's MAGA movement, a climate protester interrupted him mid-way. “Why have you yet to declare a climate emergency?” the unidentified man screamed across the room. 

“Arizonians have died,” he added as the crowd booed in return. Responding to the man, Biden asked him to patiently wait until he's done. “Why don’t you wait—hang on a sec, hang on a second, I’d be happy to meet with you after I speak, OK?” he said as the heckler continued his tirade.

After taking a brief pause of about 13 seconds, the 80-year-old president appeared to snap, telling the man to "shush up". “I tell you what, if you shush up, I’ll meet with you immediately after this, OK?” he said as attendees cheered in unison. As officials at the scene escorted the man away, Biden quipped, “Democracy’s never easy, as we just demonstrated.” The heckler's rant came after Biden told The Weather Channel last month that he had “practically” announced a climate emergency but no formal declaration was handed down from the White House.

Shhh, Biden's speaking!

Meanwhile, this isn't the first time that the president has asked noisy attendees to "shush up." Earlier in May, he lashed out at a reporter during a bilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Japan's Hiroshima.

As an Australian journalist tried to interrupt, Biden said, “Shush up, OK? I’ve been in these negotiations before." The meeting was held to relieve allies of anxiousness over his administration's potential failure to secure a debt-limit agreement which could have led to a catastrophic default, the New York Post reported.