Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany said she didn’t want to take credit for President Biden’s condemnation of anti-Gaza war demonstrations that have erupted across college campuses in recent days, with some turning violent.
“Joe Biden is from the left, he’s a Democratic president. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to give him any credit today. Zero credit today,” she said on Fox’s afternoon talk show “Outnumbered.” ” he said. “I like to praise Biden when he’s due. Today is different.”
In remarks to reporters gathered at the White House on Thursday, Biden strongly reprimanded pro-Palestinian demonstrators who have clashed with police on campuses from the University of California, Los Angeles to Columbia University in New York City.
“In moments like this, there are always those who rush to score political points. But this is not the time for politics,” Biden said. “Time for clarity. So let me be clear…violent protests are not protected. Peaceful protests.”
“Destruction of property is not a peaceful protest and is a violation of the law,” he continued. “Vandalism, trespassing, smashed windows, campus closures, forced cancellations of classes and graduations. None of this is peaceful protest; this is intimidation.”
Former President Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination this fall, also slammed Biden’s handling of the crisis. He even suggested earlier this week that student protesters were being treated more leniently than the protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
In recent days, leading conservative experts and lawmakers have slammed Biden for not speaking out about the large-scale demonstrations.
“Mr. Biden is speaking today because politically, the time demands it,” McEnany, who previously served as President Trump’s press secretary, said Thursday.
“If Donald Trump had said the exact same thing on the exact same timeline, the White House press briefing room would have erupted and I would have been yelled at,” she added. “He’s going to get yelled at…The moral authority on this issue is the former president, not the current president.”
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