Sanders: Protests ‘could be Biden’s Vietnam’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the protests on college campuses over Israel’s war against Hamas could be President Biden’s Vietnam War, drawing the comparison to anti-war protests in the 1960s, while at the same time that he offered support for the president’s statement this week.

“I’m thinking and other people are referencing that this could be Biden’s Vietnam,” Sanders told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, who asked the senator what could happen to Biden and his re-election campaign.

“[Former President] Lyndon Johnson, in many ways, was a very, very good president. Domestically, he introduced some important pieces of legislation. He chose not to run in 1968 because of opposition to his views on Vietnam, and I am very concerned that President Biden is putting himself in a position where he has alienated, not just young people, but much of the Democratic base, in terms of his views on Israel and this war,” Sanders said.

Biden on Thursday, in his first public comments since the start of anti-war demonstrations on college campuses, sharply criticized many aspects of the protests. And he said the protests have not led him to rethink his policy in the Middle East.

Sanders suggested that Biden change course.

“I really hope that, certainly from a political point of view, from a moral point of view, the president stops giving a blank check to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and I hope you understand that, from a political point of view, this has not been helpful. Quite the opposite,” the senator told CNN.

But Sanders supported Biden’s general statement Thursday, during which the president condemned the vandalism and trespassing but defended the right to peacefully demonstrate.

“He is absolutely right that we do not want violent protests and we absolutely will not tolerate anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia or any form of bigotry,” Sanders said.

However, he sought to explain why students are protesting and warned against equating all protests with anti-Semitism. He said that “as a young man” he was involved in civil rights demonstrations and was arrested for taking an administration position at the University of Chicago.

“I think it is important to understand why these young people are out there, and they are there for the right reasons, to protest continued US military aid and money to a right-wing extremist Netanyahu government, which is waging a destructive war against the people. Palestinian,” said the senator.

He added that he believes “the Netanyahu government’s war policies are a disaster” and “violate international law and absolutely violate American law.”

“But I think… the idea that people who criticize what Netanyahu is doing are anti-Semites, that’s nonsense – and it’s a very, very dangerous line to cross in terms of free speech in this country,” Sanders said. .

The senator repeatedly criticized Netanyahu during the war, most recently accusing him of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza. He also opposed more U.S. funding for Israel and called on the Biden administration to end support.