{"id":2236249,"date":"2024-05-03T07:37:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T11:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-gives-biden-chance-to-blunt-columbia-criticism-with-charlottesville-grievances\/"},"modified":"2024-05-03T07:39:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T11:39:31","slug":"trump-gives-biden-chance-to-blunt-columbia-criticism-with-charlottesville-grievances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-gives-biden-chance-to-blunt-columbia-criticism-with-charlottesville-grievances\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump offers Biden opportunity to address Columbia critique by highlighting Charlottesville grievances"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-gives-biden-chance-to-blunt-columbia-criticism-with-charlottesville-grievances%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2236249&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former President Donald Trump is blaming President Joe Biden for campus protests turning antisemitic. By comparing current\u2062 events to the Charlottesville violence, Trump provides Democrats with ammo. Biden condemns chaos. Democrats seize the chance to \u200brevisit Charlottesville, \u2064criticizing Trump. The White \u2062House opposes \u2064antisemitism, drawing attention to the issue. Republicans focus on defunding universities tolerating \u200dviolence. \u2063Both parties react\u200c differently to Trump&#8217;s\u200d statements.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> is trying to blame President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Joe Biden<\/a> for a wave of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/columbia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>campus protests<\/a> that have devolved into antisemitic harassment and even vandalism.<\/p>\n<p>But Trump\u2019s decision to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/2979414\/trump-claims-bidens-handling-of-pro-palestinian-campus-protests-makes-charlottesville-a-peanut\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>compare<\/a> the anti-Israel demonstrations to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cory-booker-asks-attorney-general-nominee-merrick-garland-about-systemic-racism\/\" title=\"Cory Booker Asks Attorney General Nominee Merrick Garland About Systemic Racism\">white supremacist violence<\/a> that took place in Charlottesville almost seven years ago is giving Democrats ammunition to blunt that line of attack.<\/p>\n<p>Several times in the last week, Trump has invoked the 2017 rally, in which he infamously suggested there were \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2019\/apr\/26\/context-trumps-very-fine-people-both-sides-remarks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>very fine people on both sides<\/a>,\u201d to magnify the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-was-right-cnn-ratings-going-down-the-tubes-without-him\/\" title=\"TRUMP WAS RIGHT: CNN Ratings \u2018Going Down the Tubes\u2019 Without Him\">crisis taking place<\/a> under Biden\u2019s watch. Protesters have ignored university demands to clear their encampments and, at Columbia University, took over a building this week, forcing a police response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCharlottesville is peanuts compared to what you\u2019re looking at now,\u201d Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/therecount\/status\/1785342386660429952\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> Tuesday outside of his criminal trial in New York. \u201cThis whole country is up in arms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The protests give Trump a chance to put Biden on defense on a matter that has fractured Democrats and threatens his standing with young voters. After a week of silence, the president delivered a brief address from the White House in which he denounced the chaos.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation \u2014 none of this is a peaceful protest,\u201d Biden said Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>But the former president\u2019s repeated mention of Charlottesville has also handed Democrats a chance to relitigate a deadly event that Biden says inspired him to run for president.<\/p>\n<p>The White House issued a statement last week calling Trump\u2019s remarks a \u201crepugnant and divisive\u201d attempt to downplay the violence of Charlottesville, a sentiment echoed by Biden\u2019s allies on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump has put his foot in his mouth so many times, but this is one of the classics,\u201d said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, of the former president\u2019s response to the Virginia rally, in which a white supremacist drove into a crowd of counterdemonstrators, killing Heather Heyer, 32.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCharlottesville was not a small thing. Those protesters were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gov-whitmer-media-caught-in-another-lie-anarchist-arrested-for-plot-to-kidnap-and-kill-whitmer-hates-president-trump-trump-is-a-tyrant-video\/\" title=\"Gov. Whitmer, Media Caught in Another Lie - Anarchist Arrested For Plot to Kidnap and Kill Whitmer Hates President Trump, 'Trump is a Tyrant' (VIDEO)\">white supremacists<\/a>,\u201d added Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who also called the disorder on college campuses \u201cdeeply concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The White House has repeatedly invoked Charlottesville to make the case that Biden opposes antisemitism in all of its forms. Campus protesters have expressed support for the extermination of Zionists, while chants of \u201cJews will not replace us!\u201d could be heard at the 2017 rally.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2017\/08\/joe-biden-after-charlottesville\/538128\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>called the moment<\/a> a \u201cbattle for the soul of this nation,\u201d citing Trump\u2019s \u201cmoral equivalency\u201d between the neo-Nazi march and counterdemonstrators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo president has spoken more forcefully about combating antisemitism than this president,\u201d White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said Wednesday. \u201cLet\u2019s not forget, in 2017, he was very clear. What we saw, the antisemitic vile that we saw in Charlottesville, on the streets of Charlottesville, he called that out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republicans want to discuss just about anything other than the Virginia rally. They have attempted to stay message-disciplined on the campus protests, calling for the defunding of universities that do not act forcefully when demonstrations turn antisemitic or violent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow he responded to that is probably a question for him,\u201d Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) said of Trump\u2019s comments on Wednesday. \u201cAll I know is what we\u2019re seeing today, it really is vile and disgusting and needs to be dealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even Democrats are surprised that Trump would bring up what is considered a black mark on his presidency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just stunned that he would keep returning to that and try to minimize the seriousness of it and minimize his own role in praising those who were violent,\u201d said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who says there\u2019s still \u201cscar tissue\u201d from the rally in his home state.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s decision to revisit Charlottesville is not entirely surprising. His campaign is built, in part, on a series of grievances, among them the blame he was assigned for the Jan. 6 riot. On Tuesday, he questioned whether campus protesters would be prosecuted to the same extent as pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey took over a building \u2014 that is a big deal,\u201d Trump said of the Columbia protesters. \u201cAnd I wonder if what\u2019s going to happen to them will be anything comparable to [Jan. 6, 2021].<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s see how that all works out,\u201d he added. \u201cI think I can give you the answer right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Former President Donald Trump speaks with the media as he leaves the courtroom following the day\u2019s proceedings in his trial at a Manhattan criminal court in New York on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Justin Lane\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Charlottesville comments are only a temporary diversion for the Biden campaign. Despite clinching the delegates needed to become the Democratic nominee for president in March, Biden has faced a coordinated campaign to vote \u201cuncommitted\u201d in each state primary.<\/p>\n<p>Activists upset that Biden has not intervened in the Gaza war more forcefully even plan to stage demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in August.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Biden has sought to balance those demonstrations, coming from his left flank, with calls to support Israel from the mainstream of his party. He imposed conditions on the Jewish state\u2019s military operations after the deaths of seven humanitarian aid workers last month but has kept aid to Israel flowing as it battles the terrorist group Hamas.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/2974788\/biden-condemnation-antisemitic-protests-columbia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>attempted to exploit<\/a> that balancing act, accusing Biden of his own \u201cboth sides\u201d moment when he condemned the antisemitic protests at Columbia but also \u201cthose who don\u2019t understand what\u2019s going on with the Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former President Donald Trump is accusing President Joe Biden of campus protests turning into antisemitic incidents. Comparing current anti-Israel demonstrations to past Charlottesville violence, Trump provides Democrats with ammunition to counter his critique<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2651,"featured_media":2236250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24121761335751-1024x592.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2236249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24121761335751-1024x592.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2236249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2236250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2236249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2236249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2236249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}