South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) claimed in a Wednesday interview that President Biden is “afraid” of pro-Palestinian protesters while urging the president to take action against them.
“He’s afraid of the protesters,” Graham said on Fox News’s “America Reports” to hosts Sandra Smith and John Roberts, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
Graham’s comments follow violence erupting at Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) the previous night, as both the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) cracked down on pro-Palestinian protesters at the two schools.
“There are radical elements within the Democratic Party and the country right now, at large, that would literally help destroy the Jewish state,” Graham continued in the Fox News interview.
Graham also claimed, “There’s a real Hamas wing of the Democratic Party.”
Tuesday’s events at Columbia and UCLA follow weeks of campus protests focused on Palestinian human rights and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war. The protests have also faced accusations of antisemitism, which protesters have pushed back against.
“We are frustrated by media distractions focusing on inflammatory individuals who do not represent us,” Columbia protest leaders said in a statement last month. “Our members have been misidentified by a politically motivated mob.”
“We firmly reject any form of hate or bigotry and stand vigilant against non-students attempting to disrupt the solidarity being forged among students,” they continued. “Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, Jewish, Black and pro-Palestinian classmates and colleagues who represent the full diversity of our country.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House and the Democratic National Committee for comment.