In the NBC News count, it was highlighted that the arrests came from some 60 universities and institutions in the country that joined the demonstrations and camps in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, which also demand that schools break their ties with Israel.
For President Joe Biden, it is urgent that the wave of demonstrations dissipate. A summer of protests cannot be allowed to reach a boiling point in time for the Democratic National Convention in August and then spread in the final weeks of the electoral campaign in the face of a rematch with Donald Trump, local media highlight.
After days of protests on university campuses, sparked by outrage over the killing of civilians under Israeli bombs in Gaza, the president made a public statement in front of cameras.
Some observers say Biden needed to avoid further alienating young, progressive voters who are furious about his handling of the Gaza war and who could ruin his re-election hopes if they don’t go to the polls in November.
But he also had to make sure that more middle-of-the-road voters are not convinced by Trump’s claims that the country is on fire and out of control.
The protests in solidarity with Gaza have further exposed a deep vulnerability in a re-election race in which the president is neck and neck with his predecessor – with a mountain of legal entanglements – and faces an uphill task to find a solution. on the way to 270 electoral votes, a CNN analysis said.
However, the president made it clear that the pro-Palestinian protests at universities have not made him rethink his policy on the Middle East.
Thousands of voters have cast protest votes against Biden in the Democratic primary, and a recent news network poll released over the weekend found that his worst approval rating was for his handling of Israel’s war against Hamas.
jha/dfm
