President Biden on Thursday denounced disruptive anti-Israel protests at college campuses in New York and across the nation that have turned violent in recent days but insisted the National Guard should not be deployed to quash the demonstrations.
Breaking his silence on the spreading protests, Biden sternly said students are free to express themselves but must not take over college buildings or disrupt business as usual on campus.
“I will always stand up for free speech but also the rule of law,” Biden said. “Order must prevail.”
“Dissent must never lead to disorder,” he added. “It’s a matter of fairness: you have a right to protest, not to cause chaos.”
Biden lectured protesters not to engage in hate speech, specifically calling out both antisemitism and Islamophobia.
He didn’t mention Israel’s war in Gaza, which the protesters oppose, or his own policy of strong support for the Jewish state as the Palestinian death toll has skyrocketed.
As he walked out after the brief White House statement, Biden answered “no” when asked if he would change his policies.
He also said “no” to a shouted question about whether the National Guard should be deployed to forcibly put an end to protests.
The White House statement marks a shift in tack. Biden had mostly kept quiet about the protests as they escalated nationwide, especially in New York.
It comes two days after Columbia University administrators ordered the NYPD onto campus to clear pro-Palestinian protesters from a campus encampment and from the Hamilton Hall building, which they occupied.