Many reporters, including Fox’s Peter Doocy, Real Clear Politics’s Philip Wegmann, and NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez, grilled White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about President Biden’s lack of public denouncement of the recent anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas protests on college campuses. Prior to Biden’s on-camera response to the American people, the press briefing on Thursday was dominated by questions about why Biden had not publicly addressed the issue and if the administration had been in contact with affected universities or law enforcement.
Some of the initial questions were standard inquiries about what the President knows and how involved he is in addressing the situation. However, Gutierrez called out Jean-Pierre for not directly addressing why Biden has not been more forceful in condemning the protests and questioned if Biden was trying to have it “both ways” by discussing anti-Semitism and the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.
Jean-Pierre became defensive and insisted that Biden has been the only President to speak out against anti-Semitism and provided a list of his administration’s actions to counter it. Gutierrez fact-checked her by pointing out that Biden has not taken any questions about the protests themselves, only a brief statement that condemned those who don’t understand the situation in Palestine. He also referenced how Biden had been criticized for not fully condemning both sides in the Charlottesville protests in 2017.
When a reporter asked about Biden’s concern that the protests were turning the opinion against him, Jean-Pierre began to short-circuit and deflect, not directly addressing the question.
Despite being ignored at previous briefings, Doocy stuck to his reputation of asking tough questions and brought up reports of outside agitators potentially funding and instigating the protests. Jean-Pierre avoided commenting on this and instead listed various policies Biden has taken that are popular among young people, without specifically addressing if Biden is worried about losing the youth vote if he forcefully denounces the pro-Hamas protests.
Doocy persisted and questioned why Biden has been silent this week, referencing his words about Charlottesville and how silence would be seen as complicity. Jean-Pierre again repeated her previous statement about Biden not being silent on the issue of anti-Semitism, but Doocy pointed out that written statements mean nothing when a school building gets taken over. Jean-Pierre dodged the question and ran out the clock until Wegmann had the final question.
Reporter: “These protests that have been going on college campuses, we're hearing that some of them are starting to wane a little bit, but they're not just a one day protest. This has been going on for quite some time. Is there some concern within the Biden administration that… pic.twitter.com/97C14wXBvF
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 1, 2024
Wegmann asked about the replacement of the American flag with the Palestinian flag on some college campuses and if the administration believed higher education had gone “off the rails” with rampant anti-Semitic sentiment among younger Americans. Jean-Pierre refused to comment on specific incidents and instead spoke about the importance of not allowing anyone to “disturb campuses in the way of taking over buildings,” and the overall danger to the Jewish community. She also avoided directly answering Wegmann’s question about the state of higher education in regards to anti-Semitism.
USA Today's @JoeyGarrison: “With that said, I mean, does the President believe New York Mayor Adams and leaders of Columbia University and — and City College of New York acted appropriately by having the protesters at those colleges — colleges arrested and their encampments… pic.twitter.com/7sJ80I5s1e
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 1, 2024
Overall, the press briefing showed reporters refusing to let Jean-Pierre deflect and push for a direct answer about Biden’s lack of response to the pro-Hamas protests on college campuses. Her answers were vague and seemed to avoid addressing the root of the issue, leading many to believe that the administration may be afraid to take a strong stance against the protests for fear of losing support from young voters.