Amid mass arrests and violence on college campuses, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is being asked why President Joe Biden is speaking to the public.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, after law enforcement arrested over 300 people at Columbia University and City College as officers clear pro-Palestinian encampments and after violence broke out between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian at the University of California, Los Angeles, questions emerged about where the president is.
The Associated Press’ Zeke Miller noted, “Here at home, there’s been some dramatic images really across the country over the last 24-48 hours, especially with the Columbia — UCLA last night University of Madison, Wisconsin… other campuses.”
“Has the President been monitoring this and why have we not heard directly from the president about these protests that have taken over its institutions of higher learning across the country, the police responses, instances of violence? Why haven’t we heard directly from the president?” he asked.
Jean-Pierre responded, “So, just a couple of things. 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 continued.
“Let’s not forget in 2017. He was very clear what we saw — the antisemitic vile that we saw on the streets of Charlottesville. He called that out. He called that out. And one of the reasons he stepped into the 2020 election is because of what he saw… he wanted to speak out and speak against what we were seeing in this country at that time: democracy was under attack. Our freedoms were under attack, and we’re still fighting for that today, obviously, but he hasn’t just done that by speaking.”
Watch the video below:
AP’s @ZekeJMiller: “And just quickly, does the President support those police clearing operations like we saw in New York, like we’ve seen on some of these other college campuses?”
KJP: “Look, we've been very clear on that. Americans have the right to peacefully protest. They… pic.twitter.com/nGD4EG6Ce5
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 1, 2024
Miller then asked, “And just quickly, does the president support those police clearing operations like we saw in New York, like we’ve seen on some of these other college campuses?”
“Look, we’ve been very clear on that. Americans have the right to peacefully protest. They have the right to peacefully protest as long as it’s within the law and that it’s peaceful. Forcibly taking over building is not peaceful. It’s just not,” Jean-Pierre responded.
She added, “Students have the right to feel safe. They have the right to learn. They have the right to do this without disruption, and they have a right to feel safe on campuses. As I just said, they have a right to attend their commencement without feeling unsafe and what we’re seeing is a small percentage of students… they should not be able to disturb or disrupt the academic experience that students have.”
