Joe Biden is trying to walk a fine line as anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests grip U.S. college campuses, seeking to denounce anti-Semitism while placating Muslim and young progressive voters who oppose the Israeli government’s operations against Hamas in Gaza.
“Do you condemn the anti-Semitic protests on college campuses?” a reporter asked Biden during an Earth Day event on Monday.
“I condemn the anti-Semitic protests; that’s why I’ve set up a program to deal with that,” the Democrat said. “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians,” he added hastily.
The 81-year-old Democrat has claimed for years that, when Donald Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides” during protests against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, he was including “white supremacists, Nazis, and the KKK.”
In fact, Trump specifically said he was referring to people “other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists,” and even some anti-Trump figures, such as Mike Rapaport, have admitted they were wrong to repeat the “fine people” hoax as recounted by Biden.
Biden now finds himself having to suggest there are fine people among anti-Semites on college campuses ahead of the elections in November. The White House has been treading carefully throughout the conflict in Gaza, fearing backlash from traditionally Democrat-supporting voters in swing states like Michigan.
Biden is also struggling with young voters, who skew more pro-Palestinian than older voters, partly as a result of the war. The Democrat led Donald Trump by 23 points at this stage in the 2020 election, but his current lead is just eight points.
WATCH: When asked about anti-Semitic protests on college campuses, Biden says there's very fine people on both sides pic.twitter.com/kyMcgUTNRS
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