President Joe Biden said Thursday that protests at college campuses across the country have not caused him to reconsider his policies in the Middle East.
After a press conference addressing the widespread anti-Israel protests at college campuses over Israel’s war with Hamas and its effect in Gaza, a reporter asked Biden if the “protests forced you to reconsider any of the policies with regard to the region.”
“No,” Biden responded before walking away from the podium.
Tune in as I deliver remarks. https://t.co/zN7LMKaBIf
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 2, 2024
“Mr. President, do you think the National Guard should intervene?” a reporter followed up.
“No,” the president said as he exited the room.
Notably, the first protests, which sprouted at Columbia University, began before Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that allocates $26 billion in aid for Israel, including billions in military aid, on April 24.
In his remarks addressing the anti-Israel protests, Biden condemned both “antisemitism” and “Islamophobia.”
“There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it’s anti-semitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab-Americans or Palestinian-Americans. It’s simply wrong,” he said.
He also chided violent protests on campuses.
“Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations: none of this is a peaceful protest,” Biden said. “Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law.”
His remarks come during a national uncommitted effort throughout the Democrat nominating process that has seen more than half a million Americans cast ballots against Biden in protest of his handling of the Israel-Hamas war and in demand of a ceasefire.
While he demanded an “immediate ceasefire” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April after 48,812 people selected the “Uninstructed” option in the Wisconsin Democrat primary, uncommitted efforts persisted in the Pennsylvania Democrat primary weeks later.
The progressive group Our Revolution is co-hosting a “Vote ‘Uncommitted’ Early Vote Rally” in Maryland later Thursday afternoon with the Listen to Maryland campaign in the build-up to the state’s May 14 Democrat primary. The effort signals that frustrations with Biden were not quelling even before his remarks downplaying protesters’ influence on Thursday.
