US President Joe Biden insisted “order must prevail” as he defended the right to protest in the face of unrest on college campuses over the war in Gaza. "Dissent is essential for democracy," he said at the White House. "But dissent must never lead to disorder." Tensions have been building for days as demonstrators refused to remove campus encampments and administrators turn to police to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized attention from politicians and the media. Biden said he did not support calls to send in the National Guard and added the protests have not prompted him to reconsider his approach to the war. The Democratic president has occasionally criticized Israel's conduct but continued to supply it with weapons. His remarks, occurring shortly before he left the White House for a trip to North Carolina, came after days of silence about the protests.
Republicans have tried to turn the scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel, and Biden said he rejected efforts to use the situation to "score political points." "This isn't a moment for politics," he said. "It's a moment for clarity." Despite Biden's refusal to heed protesters' 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 with other members of his caucus last week. Former President Donald Trump, his party's presumptive nominee, 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." 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.
