Media figures sound alarm on White House response to college unrest, protests
Media figures such as CNN's Dana Bash and "The View" co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin called on President Biden to address the nation and respond to these campus protests directly.
President Biden, who was motivated to run for president by the bigotry on display in Charlottesville in 2017, is feeling increased media and political pressure to speak out on antisemitism as agitators and unrest roil college campuses.
CNN's Dana Bash said Wednesday that Democrats she's spoken to about Biden's response to the protests so far believe he looks "weak," as the country has seen tumultuous scenes at universities coast to coast, from Columbia to UCLA.
Bash noted a statement from White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates, which said Biden supported the right to peacefully protest, and "forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful." The statement added, "hate speech and hate symbols have no place in America."
"He's the deputy press secretary, he's certainly not the president, who we haven't heard from. He's not the communications director, who we haven't heard from. He's not the press secretary, who we haven't heard from. This is very telling that this is what we have so far with everything that's going on, from the White House and the President of the United States," Bash said.
Some have called on President Biden to address the protests, which in some cases turned violent on Tuesday. (Main: (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images), Center: Ron Sachs/CNP/Bloomberg)
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The New York Times' Zolan Kanno-Youngs said he was traveling with Biden to New York, where several campus protests have unfolded.
"I was going into it thinking, oh he's got to make a statement here. He’s got to come over and talk to the press about what we’re seeing unraveling and we didn‘t see that, he didn't come over," he said. "I don‘t think that’s going to be able to last. This is how we’ve seen them message on this so far. Statements that clearly condemn antisemitism and don‘t condone violence, calling for peaceful protests. But again, it‘s written statements."
"I've talked to some Democrats who say they're worried that he looks weak," Bash responded, referring to Biden not speaking on the issue directly.
Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller also asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday about why no one had heard from Biden directly about the protests.
President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event at Pullman Yards on March 9, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
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"The President is being kept regularly updated on what's happening. As you just stated, across the country, he is monitoring the situation closely, so is his team. And I would just add that no president, no president has spoken more forcefully about combating antisemitism than this president," she responded, before turning to Biden's response to the antisemitic events in Charlottesville in 2017.
Asked by Fox News' Peter Doocy why the president has been silent on the campus demonstrations, Jean-Pierre insisted that he hasn't been.
"The president has not been silent on this issue. When it comes to hate speech, antisemitism, he started, he launched the first-ever strategy to counter antisemitism, something that no other president did," she responded.
In another exchange with NBC News' Gabe Gutierrez, Jean-Pierre insisted again Biden had spoken out on antisemitism more than any other president.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gives remarks at the press briefing on January 24. (Andrew Thomas/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Gutierrez pushed back and said Jean-Pierre was not answering the question. She responded Biden would "continue to monitor this."
"I am answering it in the way that, I believe, is the best way to answer your question, which is the president has been very, very clear. He's been clear about this. He's taken action. He put forth a strategic plan to deal, to counter antisemitism more than 100 new actions and not just taking actions, but his actions, that across the administration, this is a whole of government process," she responded.
Gutierrez pushed back again and said the president only answered one question where he said he condemned antisemitism, but also the people "who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians." He asked how she would respond to critics who believe the president "is trying to have it both ways that he's essentially, you know, trying to talk about both antisemitism and what's going on with the Palestinians."
"I would say to those critics is no. He's not doing a both-sides scenario here. When you think about Charlottesville, you think about the vile antisemitism that we heard on the streets of Charlottesville, right here, uh, in Virginia," she said. "Somebody died. A young woman lost her life. The President and many of us wanted to make sure that was called out."
"There was no both sides here. None. Absolutely none. As it relates to the Palestinians, he was talking about the humanitarian, a dire humanitarian situation, that we're currently seeing," she continued, noting that Secretary of State Antony Blinken was working to secure a deal for the hostages and to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Some members of the media have said they're worried the protests might cost Biden the election, including "The View" co-host Joy Behar.
During "The View" on Wednesday, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin suggested Biden address the nation on the war in the Middle East, and said there was a lot of misunderstanding about the conflict among young people.
New York Police Department officers detain dozens of pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University after they barricaded themselves at the Hamilton Hall building near Gaza Solidarity Encampment earlier in New York, United States on April 30, 2024. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images) ((Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images))
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"I think that Joe Biden should consider giving a national address on the Israel-Hamas war. His administration is doing a lot … He's literally been working to get a cease-fire. It’s not like he’s sitting on his hands and this is in his control, but the young people, there’s a lot of misunderstanding of the conflict, what the administration is doing, and he has to address it because, yes, campuses will wind down, the convention will come up and likely be protests. In 1968, which everyone wants to compare it to, [Richard] Nixon won," Griffin said.
Jewish Insider's Gabby Deutch posted a statement from the White House to X on Wednesday and said that she followed up twice with questions about whether the president intends to address the nation or meet with Jewish students.
Jewish Insider senior political correspondent Lahav Harkov responded to the post and said former President Trump met with students "facing antisemitism much less extreme than this."
"Maybe if Biden and co are reminded of that they'll be inspired to do so as well," she said.
Democratic lawmakers have also taken issue with Biden's response, including New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., speaks as he stands alongside three of his House Democrat colleagues and a Jewish member of the student body at Columbia University following a campus walk through of the area taken over by antisemitic protesters. (Office of Congressman Josh Gottheimer)
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"I appreciate what his spokespeople have said," he told the New York Times. "But it’s also critically important that the president is out there in a forceful way against the violence and hate speech on many of our campuses."
The White House on Wednesday announced that Biden will deliver a speech next Tuesday on Capitol Hill for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Annual Days of Remembrance ceremony. The speech will reportedly address the campus protests and rising antisemitism in the country.