In a campaign rally in Wisconsin, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump lauded the New York Police Department’s intervention in clearing out Columbia University‘s occupied building by pro-Palestinian students.
He hailed the arrest of approximately 300 demonstrators as a necessary action against what he termed as “raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers.”
The student protests, seen across various campuses, encompass demands for an immediate Gaza ceasefire and university divestment from firms associated with Israel’s military.
Trump’s remarks aimed to capitalize on the growing concern over campus unrest, with Republican lawmakers accusing university administrations of ignoring antisemitic rhetoric.
While many student organizers emphasize peaceful protests and disavow violence, some Jewish students express feeling unsafe amidst antisemitic chants.
Trump called for the immediate removal of encampments, advocating for the restoration of campuses as safe learning spaces.
The recent surge in U.S. student activism mirrors the significant outpouring witnessed during anti-racism protests in 2020.
However, the police response at Columbia faced criticism from faculty, with the university’s senate passing a resolution accusing the administration of compromising academic freedom.
Trump sought to attribute the turmoil to Democratic President Joe Biden, who has condemned physical intimidation and antisemitism while supporting peaceful protests advocating for humanitarian aid in Gaza and university divestment from companies supporting the Israeli military.
Trump criticized a potential move by the Biden administration to relocate Palestinian refugees related to Americans to the U.S.
He garnered crowd disapproval by rejecting the idea of accepting refugees from Gaza and other places.
Amidst his first major campaign events since his New York criminal trial began, Trump’s visit to battleground states underscores the close race with Biden ahead of the election.
