Trump calls out Biden over protests at Columbia University

Trump said the protests were a “disgrace” and blamed the president for not having compassion for the Jewish students who have been threatened by the protests.

By Misty Severi

Published: April 23, 2024 5:08pm

Former President Donald Trump went after President Joe Biden on Tuesday, for not cracking down on the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University.

The protests on the Manhattan campus have stretched on since last Wednesday, and resulted in more than 100 protesters being arrested on Thursday. Despite the arrests, protests resumed and the university’s president decided to move classes online on Monday to protect Jewish students.

Trump said the protests were a “disgrace” and blamed the president for not having compassion for the Jewish students who have been threatened by the protests.

"What's going on at the college level… Columbia, NYU and others is a disgrace. And it's really on Biden," Trump told reporters Tuesday morning, Fox News reported. "He's got the wrong words. He doesn't know who he's backing. And it's a mess. And if this were me, they'd be after me, they'd be after me so much, but they're trying to get him a pass. And what's going on is a disgrace to our country. And it's all Biden's fault, and everybody knows it. He's got no message, he's got no compassion and doesn't know what he's doing.”

Trump also claimed Biden is not a “friend of Israel” or the “Arab world,” because of the signals he has put out on foreign policy. Biden has supported Israel in its war with Hamas, but also urged them to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties.

"He wants to take a middle ground,” Trump said of Biden. “Oftentimes that doesn't work, but it's certainly not working here. But what he's done to Israel is abandon them, and he's trying to be as nice as he can to the other side.”

The president has condemned the protests, but also condemned people who do not “understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”

Critics, such as Columbia alumnus Robert Kraft, claim that more action needs to be taken to quell the protests, where some protesters were heard chanting "Al-Qassam you make us proud, kill another soldier now," over the weekend. Al-Qassam refers to the military wing of the terrorist organization Hamas.