President Biden was sharply critical Thursday of aspects of protests that have swept across college campuses nationwide in response to the war in Gaza, condemning vandalism and trespassing even as he defended the right to peacefully demonstrate.
“In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points. But this isn’t a moment for politics. It’s a moment for clarity. So let me be clear … Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is,” Biden said in prepared remarks from the White House.
He called out what has occurred at Columbia University and on other college campuses over the past week, which has garnered national attention as tensions have escalated and police disassemble encampments.
“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest, it’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation. None of this is a peaceful protest, threatening people, intimidating people,” Biden said.
“Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder,” Biden added.
The president said he was not considering sending in the National Guard in response to the protests. And he said the the protests on college campuses have not caused him to rethink his policy in the Middle East.
Demonstrations have been playing out across college campuses nationwide amid outrage over the war in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed as Israel responds to Hamas’s October attacks that left more than 1,100 Israelis dead.
Pro-Palestinian protesters opposing Israel’s military campaign in Gaza had seized control of Hamilton Hall on Columbia’s campus on Monday, an escalation of protests that began roughly two weeks ago. New York police officers entered the building late Tuesday through a window, carrying riot shields and zip ties and arresting several protesters as they cleared the area.
A statement from a university spokesperson said officers arrived after the school had requested help.
Police in Los Angeles also dispersed demonstrators on the campus of UCLA late Wednesday.
“We’ve all seen the images, and they put to the test two fundamental American principles. The first is the right to free speech, for people to peacefully assemble, make their voices heard. Second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld. We’re not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent,” Biden said Thursday.
He added, “we’re a civil society, and order must prevail.”
And, he called out antisemitism that has bubbled up from the college campus protests, which the White House has called out since the campus protests began.
“There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students,” he said. “There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans. It is simply wrong.”
“I understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions. In America, we respect the right and protect the rights for them to express that. But, it doesn’t mean anything goes. It needs to be done without violence, without destruction, without hate, and within the law,” he added.
Biden had only made a passing comment on the protests prior to Thursday, condemning antisemitism but also pushing back against those “who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
Former President Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has called the protests a “disgrace” and slammed Biden on Wednesday for his lack of public comment on the scenes playing out across the country.
“Biden’s nowhere to be found. He hasn’t said anything,” Trump said. “When you have a problem like that you should go out and talk about it and talk to the people. But there’s a big problem, there’s a big fever in our country, and he’s not talking. But if he did, it wouldn’t matter.”
The situation is politically complicated for Biden, who is already facing blowback from portions of his base over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Thousands of voters have cast protest ballots against Biden in Democratic primaries, and a CNN poll released over the weekend showed Biden trailing Trump among young voters.
The White House has condemned the rhetoric used by the student leader of the protests at Columbia, who said in January that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” And, when protesters took over a building on Columbia’s campus Tuesday, the White House called the move the wrong approach and condemned demonstrators for disrupting the academic experience of other students.
Updated at 11:42 a.m. ET