Obama's Iowa City Visit on Student Debt Met By Protesters

Protesters gathered in Iowa City on Wednesday in advance of President Barack Obama's visit to University of Iowa campus to show their disapproval for the president and his policies.

Obama was in town rallying support for Congress to freeze the student loan interest rate before it doubles in July. Obama is due to speak at the University of Iowa Field House this afternoon.

"I am here to spread awareness that there are students on campus that don't like Barack Obama, and that it's OK to disagree with the president," said Peter Larson, 23, a UI senior from Dubuque. 

University of Iowa has a reputation as having a liberal bias.

A couple dozen protesters were on hand with banners to greet the president and the 5,000-plus people who came to see him. Larson waved a sign that said, "Stop Obamunism."

Kelsey Boehm, 20, a University of Iowa junior from Peoria, IL, and president of the UI College Republicans, said that while student debt is an issue, the bigger issue is the unemployment rate among college graduates and young people in general.