Trump blames Biden for college protests, compares them to 2017 rally
3 Min Read
Trump referenced the 2017 clashes in Virginia between white nationalists and counter-protesters, where one woman was killed, labeling them as "a little peanut" compared to pro-Palestine protests in US universities.
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Former President Donald Trump speaks with construction workers at the construction site of the new JPMorgan Chase headquarters in midtown Manhattan, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in New York. (AP)
Donald Trump criticized the student pro-Palestine protests in US universities on April 25 labeling them as "tremendous hate" as he claimed that the violence at a white nationalist rally in Virginia during his presidency term was "a little peanut" in comparison.
He also pointed fingers at his presidential rival Joe Biden for the protests.
"Charlottesville was a little peanut. And it was nothing compared to – and the hate wasn't the kind of hate that you have here," Trump, following the testimony in his criminal trial in New York City, referenced the 2017 clashes in Virginia between white nationalists and counter-protesters, where one woman was killed.
Back then, following the rally, Trump equated white supremacists with counter-protesters and said that the blame falls on "both sides."
"The fact is that Crooked Joe Biden HATES Israel and Hates the Jewish people. The problem is that he HATES the Palestinians even more," Trump said on Truth Social.
"This is tremendous hate and we have a man that can't talk about it because he doesn't understand it. He doesn't understand what's going on with our country," he emphasized referencing Biden.
Read more: Trump denounces hush money case as 'political witch hunt'
Pro-Palestine protest movement growing despite campus crackdowns in US
Dozens of students, alongside faculty staff and media personnel, were arrested on April 24 while participating in pro-Palestine demonstrations at various US college campuses.
At least 34 students, including a member of the media from a local news station, were arrested during protests at the University of Texas in Austin, and at least 50 more were detained by police at the University of Southern California (USC).
These arrests occurred amid a series of demonstrations at campuses across the US, which began last week after students at Columbia University in New York established encampments demanding the university divest from weapons manufacturers with ties to "Israel". These protests have resulted in numerous suspensions and the arrest of hundreds of students in New York and other cities.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at US universities faced predictable accusations of anti-Semitism amid their protests.
In California, protests intensified at UC Berkeley and USC. Further north at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, demonstrators barricaded themselves in a university building using furniture, tents, chains, and zip-ties, prompting a campus shutdown.
At Harvard University, students erected an encampment in Harvard Yard on April 24 morning to protest against the suspension of the university's Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and to demand divestment from "Israel" due to its brutal aggression on Gaza. Additionally, in Texas, an anti-war protest at the University of Texas in Austin led to at least 34 arrests, including that of a photojournalist, after state troopers entered the campus.
