Joe Biden Confronted By Passenger Over Gaza Deaths In Flight, His Reply

Former US President Joe Biden offered a brief three-word response when a passenger confronted him about children being killed by Israel in Gaza.

The interaction took place in the first-class cabin of a plane departing from Reagan National Airport in Washington. A video of a woman approaching Biden's seat and initiating the conversation has surfaced on social media.

“Thanks for taking the time to talk with me,” the woman said, as Biden smiled in response.

The tone shifted when she raised the situation in Gaza. “Children in Gaza are dying every day,” she said. Biden's expression changed. “We need to stop...,” she continued, before a member of his team intervened and gestured for her to move along.

“I know that,” Biden replied. “I know that …” he added, trailing off before stopping himself. The footage shows the woman appearing to follow one of Biden's aides down the aisle before the clip ends.

Watch the clip here:

Headed home today after a week in DC so I can cover former President Joe Biden as he attends a @scdp event in Columbia SC tonight.

Apparently I picked a popular flight this morning! pic.twitter.com/8iYUrHY7oQ

— Meg Kinnard (@MegKinnardAP) February 27, 2026

Passenger Speaks Out After Encounter

Later, speaking with TRT, the passenger, identified as Nusaiba Mubarak, described her exchange with the former president in highly critical terms.

She said, “Here he was in front of me, the man with the blood of Palestinian children on his hands.” She added that Biden “looked sad” during the exchange and recalled him responding, “well it's really sad.”

Mubarak criticised what she saw as a lack of reaction from others on board, saying she wondered, “Why is everyone just sitting around and no one has said a single thing?” She also alleged that his staff “immediately rushed to push me aside” as soon as she mentioned Gaza.

In her remarks, she accused Biden of failing to uphold both international and US law, saying that he “could be charged for war crimes” over his administration's approach to the conflict.

She said she felt compelled to confront him over what she described as his “failures,” adding, “You could have stopped this at any time.”

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Referring to the wider context, Mubarak pointed to the scale of casualties in Gaza during Biden's presidency, stating, “More than 46,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza under the Biden administration while Biden sent at least $17.9 billion in weapons to Israel.”

According to reports, Biden was travelling to Columbia, South Carolina, for an event with the South Carolina Democratic Party. He was also reportedly seen speaking to other passengers and posing for selfies at Reagan National Airport prior to boarding.

Gaza Policy Continues To Shadow Democrats

This interaction occurred against the backdrop of scrutiny over the Biden administration's policy on Israel's war in Gaza. 

According to a recent report in Axios, senior Democratic officials involved in the party's still-confidential review of the 2024 election concluded that then Vice-President Kamala Harris lost considerable support due to the Biden administration's handling of the Gaza conflict.

Research conducted by the Democratic National Committee into the party's 2024 losses reportedly found that the administration's stance on Israel contributed to waning support among younger voters and progressives.

Axios also reported that in her book, Harris wrote that Biden struggled to publicly demonstrate greater empathy for civilians in Gaza killed during Israel's response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.

She said that Biden's perceived “blank check” for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed heavily on her campaign. Harris wrote that she privately “pleaded” with Biden to show more empathy for civilians in Gaza, though she stopped short of breaking publicly with him during the election race.