After a barrage of criticism for his week-long silence on the student protests in United States universities and against Israel’s offensive in Gaza, and the repression to break up the camps, President Joe Biden spoke this Thursday and justified the actions of the police: “Order must prevail,” he said.
In a speech broadcast on TV from the White House, Biden said the United States “is not an authoritarian country that silences people” but that anti-Semitism and other hate speech “has no place” on college campuses.
“Dissent is essential to democracy,” declared the Democratic president, “but dissent should never lead to disorder.”
He added that the protests have not led him to rethink American policy toward war, and who opposes sending the National Guard to disperse protesters.
Biden broke days of silence on the protests, as Republicans try to use the issue against Democrats in this election year.
In fact, former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump himself applauded this Wednesday the “great work” of the New York Police in evicting the pro-Palestinian protesters who had camped at Columbia University.
During an event in Wisconsin, the New York magnate said that “New York was under assault” by students who denounced the US policy of supporting Israel in the Gaza war.
Police, he said, “did an incredible job” entering the building that had been occupied by several students. “The police arrived and in two hours everything was over. It was beautiful to see,” said the Republican to applause from the public.
Tension at colleges and universities has been rising for days, as some protesters refuse to break camps and administrators turn to police forces to forcibly evict them, sparking clashes that have captured the attention of politicians and media.
But Biden’s last public statement took place more than a week ago, when he condemned the “anti-Semitic protests” and “those who do not understand what is happening to the Palestinians.”
“Bulletproof vests and batic t-shirts”
The White House, peppered with questions from reporters, has only gone a little further than the president. On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is “attentive to the situation” and that some protests had crossed the line between free speech and illegal behavior.
“Forcibly taking over a building,” as happened at Columbia University in New York, “is not peaceful,” he said. “It’s just not.”
Biden has never really liked protests. His career in elected office began as a county clerk when he was just 28 years old, and he has always defended the political importance of negotiation over fanaticism.
In 1968, when outrage over the Vietnam War reigned on college campuses, Biden was studying law at Syracuse University.
“I don’t like bulletproof vests or batic T-shirts,” he said years later. “That is not me”.
Criticism and campaign
Despite criticism from the White House and Biden’s refusal to heed protesters’ demands to suspend US support for Israel, Republicans blame Democrats for disorder and they use it as a backdrop in press conferences.
“We need the president of the United States to speak up and say this is wrong,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said Tuesday. “What’s happening on college campuses right now is wrong.”
Johnson went to Columbia with other members of his group last week. House Republicans argued with protesters while speaking to media at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
Donald Trump also criticized Biden in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.
“Biden has to do something”, said. “Biden is supposed to be the voice of our country and obviously he is not a great voice. He is a voice that no one has heard.”
He repeated his criticism Wednesday during a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
“Radical extremists and far-left agitators are terrorizing college campuses, as you may have noticed,” Trump said. “And Biden is nowhere to be found. He hasn’t said anything.”
Kate Berner, who was deputy communications director for Biden’s 2020 campaign, said Republicans tried the same tactic four years ago during protests over the police killing of George Floyd.
“People rejected that,” he said. “They saw that they were just trying to instill fear. They saw that it was something that was not based on reality.”
Outside of condemning anti-Semitism, the White House has been reluctant to get directly involved in the issue.
Jean-Pierre repeatedly deflected questions during a briefing on Monday.
When asked if the protesters should be sanctioned by their universities, he said that “universities and colleges make their own decisions” and “we are not going to give an opinion from here.”
When asked if the police should be involved, he said that “that depends on the universities.”
When asked if administrators should reschedule graduation ceremonies, he said “that’s a decision they have to make” and that “it’s up to them.”
Biden will visit a university campus on May 19when he is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse University in Atlanta.