Donald Trump claims ‘paid agitators’ part of Columbia pro-Palestine protests

As protests on college campuses across the country escalate, former President Trump made baseless claims Tuesday that pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University included “paid agitators.”

On Tuesday night, hundreds of New York City Police Department officers, many carrying batons and wearing riot gear, stormed an encampment of protesters at Columbia University, including arresting students who had occupied campus buildings. was eliminated.

In a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity during the police operation, President Trump claimed that many of the demonstrators did not believe what they were protesting for.

“I really think there are a lot of paid agitators, professional agitators here as well. I see it all over the place,” he said. “If you look at the signs, they’re all the same. That means they’re getting paid by the source.”

“You know, these aren’t hand-painted signs where people go into their basements and draw something because they really believe it. These are all identical signs made by the same printer.” he continued. “And when you look at that, that means there’s someone at the top who’s paying, or a group who’s paying, and they’re doing a tremendous amount of damage to the world, but we It is also causing great damage to the country.”

There is no evidence that the protesters at Columbia University or those in pro-Palestinian protests nationwide are paid protesters or otherwise genuine protesters.

The police response at Columbia University has been tense for days, the first of hundreds of similar protests across the country against the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. It was carried out after the The protests are demanding a ceasefire in the conflict, an end to military aid to Israel, and for universities to withdraw from Israeli interests.

Colombia has been in the political spotlight due to protests. The campus hosted visits last week from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), Gov. Kathy Hochul (New York), and numerous members of Congress from both sides of the aisle.

Lawmakers from both parties called on Columbia University President Minoush Shafik to resign if the protests cannot be quickly quelled.

Both Trump and Biden have condemned the protests, with Trump calling the demonstrations “sad to watch” on Tuesday and also attacking Biden.

“We have to go back to where we started. We have to protect and we have to stop the anti-Semitism that is rampant in our country right now,” Trump said. “And Biden has to do something. Biden is supposed to be a voice for our country, but he’s certainly not a great voice.”

More than 1,000 students have been arrested in similar protests across the country, some of which have resulted in violent clashes with police and counter-protesters.