WASHINGTON – President Biden is facing criticism for his silence in the face of the wave of pro-terrorism and anti-Israel protests rocking college campuses across the United States, as the commander in chief went nine days without making an in-person statement on the situation.
Biden, 81, remained quiet even as New York police stormed Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall Tuesday night to clear out dozens of rioters who had barricaded themselves in the building – and that pro- and anti-Israel activists fought in a tent encampment at UCLA.
“He’s MIA, as usual,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday evening as the chaotic scene at the Ivy League school’s Manhattan campus unfolded.
“He’s afraid to talk about the issue,” Johnson told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
“He’s very afraid of alienating the Hamas wing of the Democratic Party,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, arguing that Biden “could stop this stuff in a heartbeat.” of time” if he did. threaten to deny federal funds to universities that allow protesters to terrorize Jewish students.
“But Joe Biden didn’t do that,” Kennedy added. “And President Biden will not do that. »
A few Democratic lawmakers acknowledged that politics is indeed contributing to the reluctance to speak out, as Biden faces a tight re-election campaign against former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) told Axios that some Democrats “kind of held back” because “in some states like Michigan, there are large Arab American populations, large Jewish populations” and the demonstrations are “agitated”. all kinds of groups.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) called the situation “difficult” when asked about the role the Biden administration should play in combatting unrest on college campuses.
“I think it might be important for the president, or maybe the Secretary of Education, Secretary (Miguel) Cardona (to) present some examples of colleges in the country, and I think there are some a number, where discussions about tough topics like Israel and Gaza are happening, but in a way that can really serve as a model,” the Virginia Democrat said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” .
“So I think the president can use his position as a bully to set a good example,” Kaine added. “And I hope he and others in the administration can do that.”
The president’s most recent public remark on the crises was to condemn both anti-Semitism at campus protests and people unsympathetic toward Palestinians — a comment widely compared to then-President Donald Trump’s decision Trump, in August 2017, praised and denigrated “both sides” of the deadly clashes. in Charlottesville, Virginia, for the removal of a Confederate statue.
“I condemn anti-Semitic demonstrations, which is why I have put in place a program to deal with them. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians,” Biden said in response to a reporter’s shouted question on April 22, following an Earth Day event in Virginia.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre bristled Wednesday at an NBC reporter’s comparison between Biden’s comment and Trump’s memorable moment.
“No, he’s not being double-minded here,” Jean-Pierre blasted the journalist. “It was just vile, nasty rhetoric… there were no ‘two sides’ here, none, absolutely none.”
The chief White House spokeswoman added that the NBC correspondent had acted in “bad faith in saying this.”
Protest encampments were set up at many colleges across the country ahead of final exams — with George Washington University, just blocks from the White House, hosting its own encampment sporting a large banner reading “Say simply no to genocide Joe.”
Biden was repeatedly heckled with the nickname, with participants in a march in Washington last November daubing the front doors of the White House with the caption in red paint.
The unrest on college campuses is believed to portend clashes at August’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which could overshadow both Biden’s nomination for a second term and his attempt to argue that Trump would unleash chaos if he returned to power.
“He is monitoring the situation closely, as is his team,” Jean-Pierre said when asked why it has been so long since the president addressed the chaos on campus.
