White House plans to limit Biden's graduation speeches as campuses erupt in protests

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

April 27, 2024, 5:00 AM EDT


WASHINGTON — Amid growing protests on college campuses by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, the White House is planning for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to have a minimal presence for a traditional rite of spring: delivering commencement addresses.

Biden is scheduled to speak at Morehouse College and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in May, while Harris is only slated to give a graduation speech at the Air Force Academy. First lady Jill Biden, who teaches at a community college, is expected to deliver a commencement address, though no school has been named.

Two White House officials noted that the number of speeches for Biden and Harris is similar to the two previous years. By comparison, when then-President Barack Obama was seeking re-election in 2012, he delivered addresses at the Air Force Academy, Barnard College and Joplin High School. That same year, then-Vice President Biden spoke at West Point and high schools in the battleground states of Virginia and Florida.

Another White House official declined to preview how Biden might address the campus unrest. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters this week that Biden always views these addresses “as a special time to deliver a message — an encouraging message, a message that’s hopefully uplifting to the graduates and their families.” “He is going to do his best to meet that moment as it relates to what’s going on, the pain that communities are feeling,” she said.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-plans-limit-bidens-graduation-speeches-campuses-erupt-prot-rcna149137

[dalton99a]

1. Great opportunity for assholes to advertise their "Genocide Joe" campaign

[marble falls]

2. Smart. He could do it online and the whole class could follow along on their smart phones.

[paleotn]

3. I wonder how much of this is orchestrated?

By those inside and outside the US who would benefit in a number of ways. It may be entirely home grown and sincere at its roots, but then again, driving a wedge between Biden and young voters would serve some people's nefarious purposes. We do know that Russian and Chinese cyber-propaganda machines are much more sophisticated now than in 2016. Either way, it certainly makes some people very happy and not because they give a shit about Palestinians.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. I think much of it is legit (from both sides) but like the BLM protests

there will always be provacateurs who will "start something" and smear whole peaceful protests.

E.g., like how "Black bloc" tore through "Occupy (Wall Street) " and BLM movements/protests with vandalism, violence, and looting.

[nevergiveup]

5. You explained it very well.

A friend and I were talking about this last night. If there is violence in these Palestinian protests it will either be started by the police or by outsiders and even possibly by far right infiltrators. If a building burns or there is property damage it won't be done by anyone within the group that organized the protest.

[malthaussen]

6. "Pro-Palestinian protesters." You know, that name is prejudicial...

... and I don't for one moment think that isn't intended. The college students are not "Pro-Palestine" (which immediately conveys the image of "Anti-Israel" ), they are anti-genocide, anti- children and other civilians being bombed, starved, and having their homes and lives destroyed by a military operating with apparently few restraints. They are anti- their government supporting such operations in the name of their nation. They are anti- the kind of tit-for-tat retribution that leads only to an unending cycle of death and destruction until either or both sides has been exterminated. They are anti- a supposedly civilized State acting like barbarians, creating a desolation and calling it "peace."

"Pro-Palestinian," forsooth. Most of those people wouldn't recognize a Palestinian if one bit them on the ankle. They are protesting against State-perpetrated evil and violence, not for or against any particular group, ethnicity, or religion.

-- Mal

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. If they put on the scarf and wave the flag, then, yes, Pro-Palestinian.

If they put on the tie-dyed t-shirt and wave the peace symbol, then they may be unaligned pro-peace

[LiberaBlueDem]

8. Biden hears the students

And will make changes in policies