Biden’s weak stance in the face of pro-Palestinian student protests will be a disaster for him in the election, a prominent conservative journalist has warned.
Andrew Sullivan says Biden’s lackluster approach to campus chaos is enough to see him kicked out of the White House.
This, combined with “chaotic” border policies and Biden’s stance on transgender rights, will be enough to dash any chance of re-election, according to Sullivan, a conservative gay journalist.
“Biden is losing this election, rightly so,” he wrote on his Substack. “And if he can’t pull off an almighty pivot — and I suspect at this point he really can’t — this election is truly his to lose.”
Laying out his reasoning, he pointed to student protests against the Vietnam War in 1968, which are widely blamed for costing Democrats the election of Richard Nixon.
Biden’s weak stance in the face of pro-Palestinian student protests will be a disaster for him in the election, a prominent conservative journalist has warned.
Andrew Sullivan says Biden’s lackluster approach to campus chaos is enough to see him kicked out of the White House
Pro-Palestinian protesters, like those at UCLA, have clashed with police all week in violent scenes reminiscent of student protests against the Vietnam War.
Sullivan, who is a staunch critic of Donald Trump, now fears that the ex-president could capitalize on Biden’s oversights to return to power.
“This is the way to re-elect Trump: continue to pander to the far left, lick rich college grads, allow millions of fraudulent ‘asylum seekers’ into the country, insist on makes men women, discriminates against whites and Asians and men, while constantly appearing as mere reactions to events rather than creating new political realities,” Sullivan wrote.
His comments echo those of Stephen Collinson, political analyst for the left-wing CNN.
“President Joe Biden cannot afford a long, hot summer of protest that culminates in time for the Democratic National Convention in August and then extends into the final weeks of an already venomous clash with Donald Trump,” he said. he writes.
More than 76 universities have seen pro-Palestinian demonstrations in recent weeks and more than 2,000 activists have been arrested.
On Thursday, Biden finally addressed the escalating unrest, following scenes of protesters destroying university property and replacing Old Glory with the Palestinian flag.
However, he has been careful not to further alienate progressive voters who are already disappointed with his stance on the Gaza war.
“I understand that people have strong feelings and deep beliefs,” he said.
California Highway Patrol officers clear a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were issued at UCLA. Biden finally released a statement on the unrest on Thursday.
A CHP officer arrests a protester at UCLA on May 2. Sullivan warned that Biden’s comments were not strong enough and that it was too late.
A skirmish during a pro-Palestinian rally at Rutgers University, New Jersey. A student encampment had been set up on campus in scenes reminiscent of many scenes across the country.
Georgia State Patrol officers arrest a protester on the Emory University campus during a pro-Palestinian demonstration, Thursday, April 25, 2024.
“In America, we respect and protect the right for them to express that.” But that doesn’t mean everything is happening. This must be done without violence, without destruction, without hatred and with respect for the law.
In contrast, Trump took a tougher stance, lambasting the protesters for disrupting learning and order, denouncing them as “rabid lunatics and Hamas sympathizers.”
“To every university president, I say remove the encampments immediately. Defeat the radicals and take back our campuses for all normal students who want a safe place to learn,” he said Wednesday at a campaign rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Responding to the comments, Sullivan said: “It’s been good so far, but it was only given when he had no choice, after Trump incited him… He was reactive, not proactive. His calm words were overwhelmed by the noise of the streets.
Sullivan said Biden’s “far-left” positions on abortion and transgender rights – including support for so-called “gender-affirming care” for children – are further alienating voters.
The journalist and other gay figures have said that some aspects of trans orthodoxy are homophobic because they encourage children who are struggling to accept their homosexuality to believe they are actually trans – and to undergo medical procedures irreversible.
Protesters have clashed with police at UCLA, Columbia, CUNY and Emory University, among other places, in recent weeks.
Independent senator Bernie Sanders has warned that Biden could face a fate similar to that of Lyndon B Johnson, who saw his Democratic support dissolve because of the Vietnam War and resulting student protests.
Johnson was forced to withdraw from his reelection bid, and his successor Hubert H. Humphrey lost to Nixon.
As far as his campaign goes, you know, I think about it and other people refer to the fact that this could be Biden’s Vietnam,” Sanders told CNN.
Protesters at Columbia University broke windows, overturned furniture and caused damage in Hamilton Hall during their brief occupation.
Members of the NYPD surround and enter Hamilton Hall where protesters have barricaded themselves inside, on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York.
“Lyndon Johnson, in many ways, was a very, very good president. He chose not to run in 1968 due to opposition to his views on Vietnam.
Meanwhile, a forecaster who has correctly predicted every presidential winner over the past 40 years also identified campus protests as a potential weak point for Biden.
Allan Lichtman said social unrest is one of the keys that could cause Biden’s demise.
Lichtman, a history professor at American University in Washington, D.C., designed a system, which he calls “13 keys,” for the White House and wrote a book in the 1980s explaining the idea.
However, he still insisted that “a lot would have to go wrong” for Biden to lose to Trump in November.
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