Van Hollen criticizes Clinton for ‘despicable’ comments about student protesters

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) criticized former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday for her remarks last week that most students participating in pro-Palestinian protests across the country are ignorant and misinformed .

Clinton said Thursday that The students, who occupied hundreds of college campuses in protest against the Israel-Hamas war, “don’t know much about the history of the Middle East, or frankly about the history in many areas of the world, including our own country.”

Van Hollen dismissed Clinton’s comments in an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday with Margaret Brennan.

“I thought, Margaret, that Secretary Clinton’s comments in this regard were largely indifferent to students’ concerns about the terrible humanitarian crisis and the high number of civilian deaths in Gaza,” he said.

The Maryland Democrat has been among the most skeptical of the Biden administration’s response to the Israel-Hamas war in the Senate. He urged the president to slow military aid shipments to Israel, citing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and rejected a State Department report that did not decisively state whether the Israeli military was committing war crimes in the war.

“I believe that the vast majority of students are protesting, are following very closely what is happening in Gaza,” he said, directly contradicting Clinton’s comments. “They see a very high number of civilian deaths.”

“We can certainly revisit history and past negotiations, but I believe that the overwhelming majority of students – not all, and there are some, there are some very bad elements involved, as well as on the side of the counter-protests – but I believe that students understand what is happening in Gaza with regard to civilian casualties,” he added.

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