Biden: Order Must Prevail at Protests  05/03 06:08

   President Joe Biden on Thursday rejected calls from student protesters to 
change his approach to the war in Gaza while insisting that "order must 
prevail" as college campuses across the country face a wave of violence, 
outrage and fear.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Joe Biden on Thursday rejected calls from 
student protesters to change his approach to the war in Gaza while insisting 
that "order must prevail" as college campuses across the country face a wave of 
violence, outrage and fear.

   "Dissent is essential for democracy," Biden said at the White House. "But 
dissent must never lead to disorder."

   The Democratic president broke days of silence on the protests with his 
remarks, which followed mounting criticism from Republicans who have tried to 
turn scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel. By focusing on a law-and-order 
message while defending the right to free speech, Biden is grasping for a 
middle ground on an intensely divisive issue in the middle of his reelection 
campaign.

   He largely sidestepped protesters' demands, which have included ending U.S. 
support for Israeli military operations. Asked after his remarks whether the 
demonstrations would prompt him to consider changing course, Biden responded 
with a simple "no."

   Biden said that he did not want the National Guard to be deployed to 
campuses. Some Republicans have called for sending in troops, an idea with a 
fraught history. Four students were shot and killed at Kent State University by 
members of the Ohio National Guard during protests over the Vietnam War in 1970.

   Tensions on college campuses have been building for days as demonstrators 
refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to police to clear them by 
force, leading to clashes that have seized widespread attention.

   Biden said he rejected efforts to use the situation to "score political 
points," calling the situation a "moment for clarity."

   "There's the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos," Biden said 
shortly before leaving the White House for a trip to North Carolina. "People 
have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to 
walk across campus safely without fear of being attacked."

   The White House also maintained its focus on combating antisemitism. Doug 
Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke to Jewish students and 
Hillel leaders on Thursday to hear about their experience with threats and hate 
speech, according to a White House official.

   Biden will make his own visit to a college campus on May 19 when he's 
scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse University in 
Atlanta.

   His last previous public comment on the demonstrations came more than a week 
ago, when he condemned "antisemitic protests" and "those who don't understand 
what's going on with the Palestinians."

   The White House, which has been peppered with questions by reporters, had 
gone only slightly further than the president. On Wednesday, press secretary 
Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden was "monitoring the situation closely" and 
that some demonstrations had stepped over a line that separated free speech 
from unlawful behavior.

   "Forcibly taking over a building," such as what happened at Columbia 
University in New York, "is not peaceful," she said. "It's just not."

   Biden's latest remarks weren't well received in some corners of the 
Democratic Party.

   "We need to prevent lawlessness in society. We need to have protections 
against hate speech," said a social media post from Patrick Gaspard, president 
of the Center for American Progress and a former White House political director 
under President Barack Obama. "But we need to be able to hold space for active 
dissent and activism that is discomforting without blanket accusations of hate 
and violence against all activists."

   But Biden's team has expressed confidence that his stance appeals to the 
widest array of voters. It also echoes his approach to nationwide unrest after 
the murder of George Floyd by a police officer four years ago, a politically 
volatile situation in the middle of his campaign against then-President Donald 
Trump.

   "I want to make it absolutely clear rioting is not protesting, looting is 
not protesting," Biden said then in remarks that his team turned into an 
advertisement. "It's lawlessness, plain and simple, and those that do it should 
be prosecuted."

   Biden has never been much for protests of any kind. His career in elected 
office began as a county official when he was only 28 years old, and he's 
always espoused the political importance of compromise.

   As college campuses convulsed with anger over the Vietnam War in 1968, Biden 
was in law school at Syracuse University.

   "I'm not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts," he said years later. "You 
know, that's not me."

   The White House has also maintained its focus on combating antisemitism. 
Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke to Jewish students 
and Hillel leaders on Thursday to hear about their experience with threats and 
hate speech, according to a White House official.

   Despite the administration's criticism of violent college protests and 
Biden's refusal to heed demands to cut off U.S. support for Israel, Republicans 
blame Democrats for the disorder and have used it as a backdrop for press 
conferences.

   "We need the president of the United States to speak to the issue and say 
this is wrong," House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said on 
Tuesday. "What's happening on college campuses right now is wrong."

   Johnson visited Columbia University with other members of his caucus last 
week. House Republicans sparred verbally with protesters while speaking to the 
media at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

   Trump, who is running for another term as president, also criticized Biden 
in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

   "Biden has to do something," he said. "Biden is supposed to be the voice of 
our country, and it's certainly not much of a voice. It's a voice that nobody's 
heard."

   He repeated his criticisms on Wednesday during a campaign event in Waukesha, 
Wisconsin.

   "The radical extremists and far-left agitators are terrorizing college 
campuses, as you possibly noticed," Trump said. "And Biden's nowhere to be 
found. He hasn't said anything."

   Kate Berner, who served as deputy communications director for Biden's 
campaign in 2020, said Republicans already had tried the same tactic during 
protests over Floyd's murder.

   "People rejected that," she said. "They saw that it was just fearmongering. 
They saw that it wasn't based in reality."

   Apart from condemning antisemitism, the White House has been reluctant to 
directly engage on the issue.

   Jean-Pierre repeatedly deflected questions during a briefing on Monday.

   Asked whether protesters should be disciplined by their schools, she said 
"universities and colleges make their own decisions" and "we're not going to 
weigh in from here."

   Pressed on whether police should be called in, she said "that's up to the 
colleges and universities."

   Asked on Thursday why Biden chose to speak on the matter after police had 
arrested protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles and at 
universities in New York City, Jean-Pierre stressed instead the importance of 
any protests being nonviolent.

   "We've been very consistent here," she said. "Americans have the right to 
peacefully protest as long as it's within the law and violence is not 
protected."