Chaos in the streets—real, imagined, or exaggerated—is never to an incumbent’s advantage.
For the past couple of weeks, the vortex of campus politics has threatened to suck Joe Biden in. Protesters at colleges have dubbed the president “Genocide Joe” and demanded that he act to stop Israeli actions in Gaza, while conservatives have sought to blame Biden for disorder at colleges and universities. Even as other Democrats grew nervous about the political ramifications of the protests for the upcoming election, the White House tried to stay out of it, seeing the protests as a distraction. The president has seemed, if not exactly sympathetic to the protesters, not interested in castigating them or really having anything to do with the protests at all.
Today, Biden’s patience ran out. In brief remarks at the White House, he affirmed the importance of free speech but mostly seemed intent on delivering a message of law and order.
“We’ve all seen images, and they put to the test two fundamental American principles. The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard.
