The spread of anti-war protests could become ‘Biden's Vietnam’

As protests against the Middle East conflict spread in the U.S. and European university campuses, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an urgent statement urging restraint. He affirmed the right to protest while unequivocally denouncing violence, saying, "There’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos." However, despite its issuance as an emergency response following a week of deliberation, critiques suggest it fell short of fully appeasing both proponents and opponents of the protests.

President Biden delivered an impromptu address at the White House on Wednesday (local time), saying that no individual had the prerogative to incite chaos, and emphasized that maintaining order was of paramount importance. Against the backdrop of ongoing clashes at Columbia University in New York and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), an official response was issued eight days after the declaration on April 24, saying that there was "no place in America for antisemitism." According to media outlets such as the Associated Press, approximately 2,200 college students had been arrested or detained by law enforcement across the U.S. as of Wednesday.

After his speech, President Biden dismissed calls to halt support for Israel when asked if protests influence Middle East policy, he responded, "No." Additionally, he rejected the opposition Republican Party's demand for deploying state National Guards. Professor Douglas Brinkley of Rice University commented to the U.S. political media outlet Politico, “He was taking a sane, centrist approach to appease people on both sides of the barricades, but it will do nothing to placate the anger on college campuses.

Some argue that this incident could serve as a trigger damaging President Biden's path to the presidential election. Sen. Bernie Sanders (Independent, Vermont) said that people believe this incident could become “Biden's Vietnam.” In 1968, then President Lyndon Johnson was swayed by public opinion against the Vietnam War and eventually gave up running for re-election.


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