Hundreds gathered at the Hilton in downtown Omaha for the Ben Nelson Gala, where President Joe Biden made his first appearance at a fundraising event since leaving office.
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During his remarks, Biden highlighted the stark reality facing American families, telling the crowd that 1 in 5 children go to bed hungry at night. When the audience responded with boos, Biden emphasized the severity of the issue.
"No, it's more than boo. It is a disgrace," Biden said.
The former president criticized President Trump's Halloween party, the administration's decision to halt SNAP benefits, and a controversial deal providing Argentina with a $40 billion line of credit without congressional approval.
Biden also addressed the struggles facing Nebraska's agricultural community and the administration's spending priorities.
"I cannot find, I cannot find the money that he's blown away to feed all those kids—the family farms in Nebraska. Many of them are going bankrupt," Biden said.
Mayor John Ewing Jr., who emceed the event, called on the government to end the shutdown and urged leaders to show more humanity in their policymaking. He wore a hat that read "MAHA," Make America Humane Again.
"We are going to stand with our immigrants when the national scene is trying to create chaos and lying to people, telling them that they are rounding up dangerous people," Ewing said.
The event comes as elections across the country take center stage this week, with Democrats securing victories in Virginia and New Jersey. Local organizer Kimara Snipes believes Biden's visit to Omaha could signal political momentum in Nebraska.
"Local elections mean so much. We have to seize the opportunity to get people connected to these systems and also to build relationships with each other and these decision makers as well, because that's really how our leaders come about and how they're born and how they're bred," Snipes said.
Outside the venue, Senator Pete Ricketts's campaign displayed a mobile billboard targeting his opponent, Dan Osborne, an independent candidate endorsed by Nebraska Democrats.
For attendees Meg Hawk and Monica Kruger, this marked their first Democratic Party event. They said they felt compelled to get involved after witnessing moves by the Trump administration during his second term.
"But I think we both feel like we have to, we have to, we have to be active, we have to resist. We have to speak for people that can't speak for themselves," Hawk said.
To conclude the evening, the Winnebago, Ponca, Omaha, and Santee nations honored Biden with a quilt, signifying service and contribution.
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