Biden breaks silence, faces balancing act on Gaza demos
US President Joe Biden broke his silence yesterday on the student protests against Israel’s war with Hamas but the US president faces a difficult balancing act to avoid hurting his re-election chances against Donald Trump. — AFP pic
Friday, 03 May 2024 8:20 AM MYT
WASHINGTON, May 3 — Joe Biden broke his silence yesterday on the student protests against Israel’s war with Hamas but the US president faces a difficult balancing act to avoid hurting his reelection chances against Donald Trump.
“There’s the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos,” the 81-year-old Democrat said in a televised address from the White House.
Biden took a tough, law-and-order tone after police broke up some of the protests that have rocked US college campuses, even as he insisted the United States would not “squash dissent”.
“Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest,” he said.
The president also doubled down on his support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza since the October 7 attacks, which has helped fuel the campus anger and enraged many Muslim and younger voters.
“No,” he said tersely when a journalist asked whether the demonstrations had forced him to reconsider any of his policies in the inflamed region, before turning on his heel.
Biden had largely avoided the contentious subject since the demonstrations began several weeks ago.
His remarks were his first in public since police started cracking down on the protests at the weekend — and it was just the second time he’d addressed them at all.
“I condemn the anti-Semitic protests. That’s why I have set up a programme to deal with that,” Biden said last week. “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
Biden’s reluctance to weigh in on the biggest and most prolonged unrest to rock US campuses since the Vietnam war protests of the 1960s and 70s has not gone unnoticed by Trump and the Republicans.
“There’s a big fever in our country, and he’s not talking,” the 77-year-old former president told a campaign rally Wednesday.
Republicans have accused Biden of being soft on anti-Semitism by refusing to condemn the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Trump urged college presidents to “remove the encampments immediately, vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses.” As for the demonstrators at New York’s prestigious Columbia University, he called them “raging lunatics and Hamas sympathisers”.
‘Difficult spot’
Biden tried to counter that by insisting there was “no place in America for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students”.
He also condemned all kinds of hate speech, including against Muslims.
The White House on Thursday denied that Biden had been pushed into reacting by Trump.
“The president, when it comes to something like this, he doesn’t need to follow anyone,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One on a Biden campaign trip to North Carolina after his remarks.
But the balancing act is not easy for Biden.
“The protests put Biden in a difficult spot because for his coalition of voters from 2020 he relied heavily on young people, in addition to Muslims and Arab Americans,” said Alex Keena, who teaches political science at Virginia Commonwealth University.
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said the White House is “apparently convinced that they’ll weather this storm and still defeat Donald Trump in November”.
He added: “This is a dangerous miscalculation.”
When Biden travels, he is often met by demonstrators chanting “Genocide Joe” and demanding a ceasefire.
Biden could still win back the hearts of some young voters, if a ceasefire agreement coupled with the release of hostages held in Gaza is reached between Hamas and Israel.
“If there is a ceasefire, that would be huge,” said Keena.
If the agreement falls through and campus unrest continues, that would cloud the Democratic National Convention in August in Chicago, where Biden will be officially nominated for president.
In 1968, police clashes with demonstrators protesting against the Vietnam war marred the Democratic National Convention in Chicago after president Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for re-election.
At the time, Biden, a law student and centrist, stayed away from the protests. In a book published in 2007, he describes seeing students occupying a building at his university and thinking “Look at these assholes”. — AFP
Friday, 03 May 2024 8:20 AM MYT
WASHINGTON, May 3 — Joe Biden broke his silence yesterday on the student protests against Israel’s war with Hamas but the US president faces a difficult balancing act to avoid hurting his reelection chances against Donald Trump.
“There’s the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos,” the 81-year-old Democrat said in a televised address from the White House.
Biden took a tough, law-and-order tone after police broke up some of the protests that have rocked US college campuses, even as he insisted the United States would not “squash dissent”.
“Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest,” he said.
The president also doubled down on his support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza since the October 7 attacks, which has helped fuel the campus anger and enraged many Muslim and younger voters.
“No,” he said tersely when a journalist asked whether the demonstrations had forced him to reconsider any of his policies in the inflamed region, before turning on his heel.
Biden had largely avoided the contentious subject since the demonstrations began several weeks ago.
His remarks were his first in public since police started cracking down on the protests at the weekend — and it was just the second time he’d addressed them at all.
“I condemn the anti-Semitic protests. That’s why I have set up a programme to deal with that,” Biden said last week. “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
Biden’s reluctance to weigh in on the biggest and most prolonged unrest to rock US campuses since the Vietnam war protests of the 1960s and 70s has not gone unnoticed by Trump and the Republicans.
“There’s a big fever in our country, and he’s not talking,” the 77-year-old former president told a campaign rally Wednesday.
Republicans have accused Biden of being soft on anti-Semitism by refusing to condemn the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Trump urged college presidents to “remove the encampments immediately, vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses.” As for the demonstrators at New York’s prestigious Columbia University, he called them “raging lunatics and Hamas sympathisers”.
‘Difficult spot’
Biden tried to counter that by insisting there was “no place in America for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students”.
He also condemned all kinds of hate speech, including against Muslims.
The White House on Thursday denied that Biden had been pushed into reacting by Trump.
“The president, when it comes to something like this, he doesn’t need to follow anyone,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One on a Biden campaign trip to North Carolina after his remarks.
But the balancing act is not easy for Biden.
“The protests put Biden in a difficult spot because for his coalition of voters from 2020 he relied heavily on young people, in addition to Muslims and Arab Americans,” said Alex Keena, who teaches political science at Virginia Commonwealth University.
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said the White House is “apparently convinced that they’ll weather this storm and still defeat Donald Trump in November”.
He added: “This is a dangerous miscalculation.”
When Biden travels, he is often met by demonstrators chanting “Genocide Joe” and demanding a ceasefire.
Biden could still win back the hearts of some young voters, if a ceasefire agreement coupled with the release of hostages held in Gaza is reached between Hamas and Israel.
“If there is a ceasefire, that would be huge,” said Keena.
If the agreement falls through and campus unrest continues, that would cloud the Democratic National Convention in August in Chicago, where Biden will be officially nominated for president.
In 1968, police clashes with demonstrators protesting against the Vietnam war marred the Democratic National Convention in Chicago after president Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for re-election.
At the time, Biden, a law student and centrist, stayed away from the protests. In a book published in 2007, he describes seeing students occupying a building at his university and thinking “Look at these assholes”. — AFP
***
kt comments:
Do you know why Biden believed the students protesting against teh Vietnam war were 'assholes'?
Biden was what the wankees called a Chickenhawk! In Vietnam war parlance, a chickenhawk is a person who strongly supports or promotes a war or warlike policies (ultra bellicose) but who has never served in the military or worse who avoided teh war draft with disingenuous excuses.
Fact check: Biden, like Trump, received multiple draft deferments from Vietnam
Camille Caldera
USA TODAY
Though Biden was a lifeguard and football player he had five draft deferments for asthma during Vietnam, just like Trump had for bone spurs in his heels.
Both were Raja Ponteng.
Israel is defending its very existence from people who wish it's complete destruction.
ReplyDeleteZero analogy with Vietnam.
Zero analogy with Vietnam!
DeleteKnow nothing mfer, who's the invader in Vietnam war?
& who's in the Palestine?
Sleep tight & DON'T wake-up, especially when u r just pretending to be in sleep!
Did you catch Pepe's tweet on which the following observer asked Pepe about in this yt conversation? It was rather incredible when he put it out just after Iran send some gifts over...if true, then RU saved the world again. Not surprise if it is and definitely won't come out in the news...
ReplyDelete~~~~~
https://youtu.be/hCoTdl7BLNo?si=qoHjCNC1KlhB8KQS
Look like OMG (O'Keefe Media Group) have been hard at work doing honeytrap and leaking stuffs from various 3 letters agencies...
ReplyDelete~~~~~
https://t.me/JamesOKeefeIII/2767
BREAKING, INSIDE THE FEDERAL RESERVE: Hidden Camera captures Principal Economist @federalreserve talking about Jerome Powell’s legacy as “somebody who held the line against like, Trump.” The influential agency responsible for maintaining a stable monetary system appears to not just be establishing interest rates, but to be setting policies for desired social outcomes.
“Under Powell, the Fed has changed to think about equity issues, like racial issues, think about wealth inequality as part of the mandate, as part of the things we are following. Think about climate change.” Aurel Hizmo, Principal Economist at the Federal Reserve, who prior to working at the Fed was an Assistant Professor @NYUStern and received his PhD in Economics from @DukeU, helps write speeches for Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell for the Federal Open Market Committee.
Hizmo says “Trump is just a crazy person” and conservatives are “dumb” as he describes to OMG’s American Swiper Citizen Journalist a politicized Federal Reserve Board where Powell has promoted ESG issues like climate change and “wants to be remembered in history” “as a savior.” But shhh…don’t tell anyone because Hizmo says: “I’m just really worried that I’m saying stuff that’s classified…It’s all classified.” @RonPaul @RandPaul
https://t.me/JamesOKeefeIII/2773
VIDEO INSIDE THE CIA; Project Manager Says Execs and Directors of CIA withheld information from Trump https://x.com/jamesokeefeiii/status/1785782393414029738?s=61&t=33UahCaZRxWlu0zhHDh9OA
https://t.me/JamesOKeefeIII/2776
CIA ISSUES STATEMENT
Will they make it big to be rea and justified, like 2020? The WHO chief has harping on the new pandemic regulation due this end of this month...
ReplyDelete~~~~~
https://t.me/bioclandestine/3306?single
As Trump widens his lead in the polls, the MSM are gradually ramping up their reporting on H5N1 Bird Flu.
All of them got their talking points, and have started to plant the idea that another pandemic may be coming.
Mass mail-in voting is the objective.
Here we go again…
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Deletehttps://twitter.com/UsforThemUK/status/1786827977298260318?t=nLk5IbEF5Y0fQD6V8oiJAA&s=19
BREAKING: Heavyweight UK Parliamentarians call for deferral of the May vote on the @WHO's Pandemic Accords, further strengthening resistance to this misguided project.
“I am very concerned that the Government is sleepwalking into an agreement that we will come to regret.” @SuellaBraverman
"We absolutely mustn’t risk being bounced into following a ‘lockdown first’ precedent for managing the next pandemic.” @danny__kruger
"...the Government hasn’t been very transparent and hasn’t really set out what it is trying to do". @DavidGHFrost
"I do not wish us to be signed up to a body which has capabilities to direct us should a health crisis arise" @johnredwood
telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/…
A marker in the history of this world. Does not matter if the present justice system is faulty, true justice will prevail. Believe many more will follow until an avalanche...in MY, there are Hisham, KJ, all that sit in the panel that release for use in MY, those who push for it in the media, and a certain media organization and media practitioners...Won't be surprise when swift retribution manifest itself all over the world.
Delete~~~~~
https://twitter.com/FreeWCH/status/1787474518891466918?t=uENekzEAwjMBN0tQCIw8vQ&s=19
Dr Tess Lawrie is now reading the NOLs delivered today to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Maria van Kerkhove, Janet Diaz, and Jeremy Farrar at the World Health Organization.
https://twitter.com/lawrie_dr/status/1787448205996605689?t=kb0LBB-6qVYn2OX6qkGwkQ&s=19
Swiss Solicitor Philipp Kruse delivered Notices of Liability to four individuals at the World Health Organization today.
I will read the NOLs in the Estonia Press Conference, which begins shortly and can be watched in the World Council for Health's newsroom.
@P_McCulloughMD @NassMeryl @RWMaloneMD @PierreKory @joerogan @BretWeinstein
https://twitter.com/eh_den/status/1787457276837593128?t=o43UzLalZHHAbL2mhZxSWw&s=19
Dear Tess, I am sure the Swiss solicitor Philipp Kruse is aware of the indemnity all UN institutions, including the World Health Organization, have in Switzerland. How can a Swiss court rule about liability of any individuals at the WHO if they have full indemnity?
https://twitter.com/ShabnamPalesaMo/status/1787461353231224887?t=n6_hR2WbZNf2M_MIHH8hng&s=19
Thanks Ehden. Diplomatic immunity is not absolute. See the case of Cuban Doctors vs PAHO. Also, Jam International vs IFC. WCH is advocating for lawful over legal. Sovereignty is at the core, essential to the protection of our inalienable rights and freedoms.
https://twitter.com/eh_den/status/1787466937699598656?t=fVa3xAwSnAAYwUhI-iGE0g&s=19
I agree. Sadly, Swiss courts (like most courts around the world) has been compromised for many years, as we saw during the p!andemic days, where all requests to uphold rights over acts were rejected.
Dr Sucharit Bhakdi deserve recognize recognition from the heart of every persons that a sense of being human. God bless his soul.
ReplyDelete~~~~~
https://twitter.com/ShabnamPalesaMo/status/1787068132529496516?t=HULEzdjJEZ9KR1Zv8qKwLw&s=19
🛑 Profound. Watch this clip from a conversation between my Canadian hero brother Dr @DrTrozzi and the eminent Prof Sucharit Bhakdi.
https://twitter.com/DrTrozzi/status/1786877713942220869?t=R4n5X_y4HpL_JZRjNYZQVw&s=19
This overview of the Canadian situation, featuring insights from the esteemed Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, offers profound wisdom. Dr. Bhakdi passionately urges Canadians to reclaim their greatness and become a beacon of inspiration for the world. Stay tuned for the full interview.
Headsup.
ReplyDelete~~~~~
https://twitter.com/DonnaPrissyrn1/status/1786913026718711894?t=mx3T3DiHa-I6o_ZYU_5X7Q&s=19
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ReplyDeletehttps://t.me/WeTheMedia/100520
The Swamp rats are “joking” about the gallows and how to escape if Trump becomes President 👀
PANIC IN DC!
(NB: If you open google map and go the area that supposedly Washington D.C., you will find Washington only, D.C. had been dropped for awhile already, don't remember exactly, probably 1.5 or 2 years already - mf)