(NewsInsights.org) – President Joe Biden commemorated Earth Day with a speech at Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia, on Monday, April 22. In a press gaggle afterward, in response to a reporter’s question, the president made remarks regarding the anti-Israeli campus protests. However, his answers sparked a backlash among critics, who are comparing how they say Biden waffled on the issue to former President Donald Trump’s Charlottesville remarks after a white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally turned violently deadly.
During the impromptu presser, a reporter asked Biden if he had a message for protestors and another whether he condemned the protests on college campuses. The President responded, “I condemn the anti-semitic protests.” He added that he had instigated a strategy to counter the problem.
However, Biden went on to add, “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians and their — how they’re being —” A reporter cut him off with a question about whether he thought the president of Columbia University should resign.
Critics like former Congress member Joe Walsh (R-IL) likened Biden’s comment to one made by former President Trump after the Charlottesville protest turned violent. Trump had said, “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this [offensive] display of hatred… and violence on many sides, on many sides,” after a man killed a woman when he plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters.
In later comments, Trump, unwilling to condemn White Nationalists who supported his Make America Great Again (MAGA) agenda, commented on the presence of “very fine people on both sides” of the protests. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Walsh seized on the “both sides” concept in his criticism of Biden, calling his remarks a “Bad, weak, cowardly answer.”
The Federalist Chief Editor Mollie Hemingway also took to X to compare Biden’s answer to Trump’s Charlottesville response. Conservative radio host Clay Travis also chimed in on social media to note the similarities between the two.
Biden continues to struggle with the younger voter demographic, and the administration’s continuing support for Israel has drawn criticism from many younger voters. However, critics have pointed out that the president is unlikely to make gains with college-age voters by hedging on issues and more likely to lose Independent and Moderate voters.
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