Fox News host Kaleigh McEnany said she is unwilling to give President Biden any credit for condemning the demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza that have erupted on college campuses in recent days, some of which have turned violent.
“Joe Biden comes from the left, he is a Democratic president. I’m sorry, but I don’t give him credit today. Zero credit today,” she said on Fox’s afternoon talk show “Outnumbered.” “I like to give Biden credit where credit is due. Not today.”
Biden, in remarks to reporters gathered at the White House on Thursday, sharply warned pro-Palestinian protesters who police have clashed with on campuses ranging from the University of California, Los Angeles, to Columbia University, in New York City.
“In moments like this there are always those who rush to score political points. But this is not a time for politics,” Biden said. “It is a moment of clarity. So let me be clear…violent protests are not protected. Peaceful protest is.”
“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest, it is against the law,” he continued. “Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, closing campuses, forcing cancellation of classes and graduation. None of this is a peaceful protest, threatening people, intimidating people.”
Former President Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee this fall, also criticized Biden’s handling of the crisis. He even suggested earlier this week that student protesters are being treated more kindly than those who stormed the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots.
Top conservative pundits and lawmakers have been criticizing Biden for days for not addressing the widespread demonstrations.
“Biden speaks today because politically the moment demanded it,” McEnany, Trump’s former White House press secretary, said on Thursday.
“If Donald Trump had made the exact same comments on the same timeline, the White House press room would be buzzing, they would be yelling at me,” she added. “He would yell at him… the former president has been the moral authority on this issue, not the current one.”
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