When students took over Columbia University's Hamilton Hall in April 1968, a young Joe Biden was studying law 450 miles away, just weeks away from graduation. Protests, chants and tie-dyed shirts were not his style. “I was in law school,” he later recalled. “I'm wearing a sports coat.”
Fifty-six years ago, Biden occupied the same university building until the day after police stormed Hamilton Hall to remove demonstrators in one of the most iconic moments of the 1960s protests. He no longer feels close to his contemporary successors who are speaking out. their anger over Israel's war in Gaza;
But Biden, who has traded in a sport coat in the Syracuse University School of Law library for a suit coat in the Oval Office, cannot simply ignore the uproar on America's college campuses as he once did. This time, he's not just a disdainful bystander, but one of the targets of discontent, challenged to navigate the treacherous waters of campus politics better than Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.
Biden has tried to tread a cautious line in recent days as protests have escalated, leading in some cases to suspensions and arrests. He has voiced support for the free speech rights of students who oppose support for Israel, while condemning anti-Semitism directed at Jewish students. But with the political far left calling him “Massacre Joe” and Republicans blaming him for the campus chaos, the president has personally tried to stay out of the fray as much as possible.
He did not comment Tuesday after the recent Columbia Building occupation, leaving it to a spokesperson to say whether he would condemn the behavior as “unacceptable” behavior that crosses the line from dissension to disorder. “The president believes that forcibly occupying buildings on campus is absolutely the wrong approach,” Press Secretary John F. Kirby told reporters. “That is not an example of peaceful protest.”
He added, “Some students should not be allowed to disrupt the academic experience and legitimate learning of the rest of our students. You should be able to do it without any problems, and you should be able to do it with confidence.”
Later that day, the president issued a proclamation for Jewish American Heritage Month that condemned the “ferocious rise in anti-Semitism” on social media and in public spaces such as universities.
“These acts are despicable and reflect the worst chapter in human history,” Biden said in a statement. “They remind us that hate never goes away, only hides until it is given oxygen. To stand forcefully against anti-Semitism and make clear that there is no safe place for hate in America. is our common moral responsibility.”
The protests pose two political dangers for Mr. Biden. These could exacerbate his estrangement from the left of his party, especially among young voters, a key group that will determine his chances of re-election. And it could further the Republican argument that Mr. Biden, rather than the volatile former President Donald J. Trump, is leading the turmoil at home and abroad, alienating centrist swing voters. there is a possibility.
Biden's standing among voters under 30 has declined dramatically from four years ago. According to a Harvard University youth poll released in April, Mr. Biden leads Mr. Trump with 45% to 37% among the same age group, which is a 23-point lead for Mr. Biden among the same generation. There is a difference of 8 points when compared. 2020. Biden needs to build a big advantage among younger voters who don't vote as often to make up for the lack of older voters.
Democratic strategists say they are confident young voters will still support Biden, and outside of campus protests, young voters are concerned about other issues such as abortion rights and the economy. I listed data showing this. With the school year coming to an end, campuses should calm down by the summer, and if the president can broker a cease-fire by then, that could continue into the fall. And the president's lead in the Harvard Youth Poll has widened to 19 points among likely voters.
Still, Biden has struggled to find a message that fits his political needs. Last week, in response to reporters asking questions about campus protests, he tried to appeal to both sides. “I condemn anti-Semitic protests. That's why I launched a program to combat it,” he said. Then he quickly added: “I also blame those who do not understand what is happening to the Palestinians.”
Some Democrats balked at the ambiguity, while Republicans echoed his comments after a deadly far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. People jumped at the comparison to the same comment made by Mr. Biden. has long said he was motivated to run in 2020.
Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Tuesday that Biden “refuses to categorically reject anti-Semitism on campus.” “In fact, when I asked him about it, he seemed to say, 'Well, there are good people on both sides.'” , I can't help but understand what this nasty, vague attitude is all about.
Republicans have rushed to give the protests partisan advantage, positioning themselves as champions of harassed Jewish students and criticizing Biden for not doing more to quell them. is blaming.
Some Republican lawmakers have gone so far as to call for the National Guard to be deployed, even though there is no indication that local police are unable to deal with unarmed protesters. The history of troops being dispatched to campus demonstrations is marked by searing memories of Kent State University, where a security guard opened fire in 1970, killing four students.
While Republicans want to make the issue their own, many Democratic politicians have similarly been quick to condemn protests that have targeted Jewish students and resorted to violence. “Breaking a window with a hammer or occupying a university building is not free speech. It is an illegal act, and those who do it should face immediate consequences, not just a slap on the wrist. ” said the Democratic leader, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer. he said on the floor Tuesday.
Some Democrats want Biden to be more outspoken. “I appreciate what the president's press secretary said,” New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer said in an interview, “but I don't know if the president is strong against violence or hate speech against many people in our country.” It is also very important to respond in a safe manner.” campus. ”
Biden's history with protests in his youth informs his current position. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, before the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement caused major waves of disruption on campus. By 1968, when many universities, including Columbia, were engulfed in protests, Mr. Biden was already married and thinking about the career he was about to embark on as a lawyer.
He was an institutionalist from a young age, focusing on how to create change within institutions rather than on the streets. In his 2007 memoir, “Promises to Keep,” Biden wrote that one day he left school, walked down Genesee Street in Syracuse, and went to Varsity Street to have lunch with some friends. It describes a time when I went to a pizza shop.
“We passed the administration building and looked up and saw people with SDS flags hanging from the windows of the prime minister's office,” said a member of the group For a Democratic Society, one of the main activist groups. he wrote, referring to the students. of the era. “They were taking over that building. And we looked up and said, 'Look at that bastard.' That's how far I was from the anti-war movement. ”
By his own account, Biden “never saw the war as a serious moral issue” but rather “a tragic mistake based on false premises.” In other words, he said, “I looked at the Vietnam War in terms of stupidity, not morality.”
More than half a century later, Biden is again far removed from the anti-war movement, which is infected with a dark strain of anti-Semitism that complicates matters. But he can't afford to continue traveling in a sport coat.