White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged several questions at a press conference Monday about the response of many U.S. universities as anti-Israel protests, which sometimes turn violent, continue to escalate.
Students at universities across the country, including many Ivy League schools such as Columbia, Yale, Harvard, and Penn, have been protesting daily, demanding a complete withdrawal from Israel as the death toll in the Gaza Strip continues to rise. Activities are being carried out.
On Monday, one of the reporters asked Jean-Pierre whether President Biden or anyone else in the White House had spoken with Columbia University leaders and whether the president was satisfied with school administrators’ handling of the situation. Asked.
“The president has always made it clear that Americans have the right to peacefully protest…but he stands firmly against any rhetoric, any violent rhetoric, any hatred, any hate threats, any physical intimidation, any hate speech. ”, he said, adding that there was no room. against anti-Semitism on college campuses and elsewhere. “This is a painful moment, we understand that. But it’s a painful moment that the American people are facing, and freedom of expression must be within the bounds of the law. And as you know, it’s a painful moment. , we’re going to continue to be very clear on this point.” “
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Presidential Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on January 3, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The spokesperson did not respond to a question about whether Biden was satisfied with the university’s handling of the situation. That wasn’t the only question she evaded.
Jean-Pierre asked whether the White House thought it was fair for protesters at Columbia and other schools to be threatened with probation and other disciplinary action, and to hear from Columbia University officials. He was asked whether students should end their protests by the given deadline.
Jean-Pierre declined to comment on either question.
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On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, University of Texas police officers arrested a man at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas. (Jay Janner/American Politician)
“These are institutions. Some of them are private, some of them are public, and it’s up to their leaders, university leaders, universities to make that decision,” she said in response to the first question.
She said her answer to the second question much the same way.
“I’m not going to comment on the university’s leadership. That’s for them to decide,” Jean-Pierre said. “We answered very clearly.”
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On Monday, anti-Israel demonstrators in Cambridge insulted pro-Israel counter-protesters, calling them “pigs” and “Nazis.” (Cathy Dillon/Fox News Digital)
Other topics that were glossed over included whether the White House was concerned about the safety of graduation ceremonies. The Biden administration’s response to the use of police force during some campus protests. The Biden administration’s response to the effects of the protests and how they affected students on campus, including canceling graduation at the University of Southern California and postponing exams at George Washington University. and whether the White House supports having anti-Semitism monitors on campuses.
In nearly every answer, Jean-Pierre stuck to his message that Biden supports peaceful protests and condemns anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred.
But this is nothing new.
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President Biden said he expected Iran to attack Israel and that tensions between the two countries continued to rise. (Photographer: Jacqueline Martin/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The White House remained silent Sunday on whether the administration plans to exclude student protesters from the student loan forgiveness program. One of the things Biden campaigned on in 2020 was canceling student loan debt, pledging to cancel at least $10,000 per borrower in 2020.
Biden has condemned the protests, but came under fire last week for also criticizing “people who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
“I condemn anti-Semitic protests, which is why I launched a program to address them. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s happening to Palestinians,” Biden told reporters this month. I will,” he said.
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Critics have compared the remarks to remarks made by President Trump in 2017 after two days of violence when white supremacists descended on Charlottesville, Virginia. President Trump said at the time that violence “has no place in America” and that “both parties are responsible,” adding that they are “very fine people on both sides.”
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
