Under pressure from the left and the right, President Joe Biden tried to strike a middle ground on Thursday, saying he respects college students' right to peacefully protest — and rejects deploying the National Guard against them — but arguing there is "not a right to cause chaos."
Biden's remarks came after dramatic scenes on campuses across the country, where thousands of students have been protesting the war in Gaza and their school's investments in Israel. At Columbia University, school administrators called in police this week after some students broke in and occupied a building on campus, while at UCLA police watched as a pro-Israel mob attacked a pro-Palestine encampment amid charges that some protesters have gone beyond criticism of Israel and engaged in antisemitism.
