Play Into His Base: Trump May Use Student Protests to Win 2024 Presidential Election
George Washington University students protest on the street after police close the student plaza during a pro-Palestinian protest against US military support for Israel’s operation in Gaza on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Washington
Mary ManleyThe Ivy League school made its decision to downsize its commencement ceremony on May 15 after discussions with student leaders. Pro-Palestinian protests first began on April 17 after students set up about 50 tents demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, as well as a divestment from companies that they say profit from the war.Columbia University announced its decision on Monday to cancel a university-wide commencement ceremony, and will instead organize school-level events due to lingering security concerns following student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. Arrests that took place at the school’s Hamilton Hall have resulted in a lack of confidence in University President Minouche Shafik among students and faculty. On Monday, author and journalist Robert Fantina joined Sputnik’s The Final Countdown to discuss the recent campus crackdowns on protestors. Fantina, an activist working for peace and social justice, noted how the protests may be used to the advantage of the Republican Party in the US presidential election come November.During the interview, Sputnik’s Ted Rall asked Fantina how the campus protests might change moving forward as a majority of students will most likely leave campus for summer break. Fantina pointed out that with social media, students may still find ways to protest, even if college campuses will be closed.“The advantage of social media must not be overlooked. These people will be in contact with each other, with other organizations throughout the summer. They’ll be made aware of protest activities that are happening, activities in support of the Palestinians throughout the summer and they will participate in them,” Fatina explained.“We won’t see university encampments over the summer, of course, probably because, as you mentioned, most university students are home, their home is local or at a distance, so they’re not on campus,” the journalist continued. “So, the campuses themselves will not be hotbeds of support for Palestinians.”“However, the students will still have access to the same social media accounts, the same pro-Palestine organizations will keep them informed about what’s going on and what they can do over the summer in support of the human rights of the Palestinian people,” he added.Ted Rall then asked if it is possible that former US President Donald Trump and other right-wing Republicans may point to the on campus protests as proof that US President Joe Biden has lost control of the American public and is to blame for its general unrest. Rall then pointed out the similarities between the US presidential election in 1968, compared to this year’s election.However, the US was experiencing a very different environment in 1968; the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, students marching in protest against the Vietnam War, and a leading presidential candidate who was not on criminal trial. But former Vice President Richard Nixon did campaign to restore “law and order,” and won 32 states in the presidential election by doing so. Trump chose to recycle the sentiment during his presidency when confronted by the Black Lives Matter movement. “Yes. It’s very possible, likely because Trump is already making noises about the unrest at campus and the need to put down these demonstrations and these spoiled kids, etc., and history will repeat itself,” said Fantina. “As you mentioned, in another generation, people look back at the protesters and say how brave they were, and how courageous, how they were on the right side of history.”And while Biden has tried to tread lightly when commenting on the pro-Palestinian student protestors, former President Donald Trump has openly attacked the demonstrators and celebrated police crackdowns as a “beautiful thing to watch.”“But, in the current environment, as Richard Nixon was a ‘law and order’ candidate, bring back law and order to the country, stop these protesters in the streets and campuses. Trump is certainly going to play into that because it works with his base,” he added. “It works with the people who will vote for him, who see the United States as speaking of democracy, which it’s not and never has been, and see these protesters as trying to change their way of life.”Even as the Biden administration has not wavered in their support of Israel, Biden does not want to lose the support of his young, college-aged voters – a key Democratic constituency – who have turned against him in response to his administration’s Israel policy.”We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent,” Biden said. “But neither are we a lawless country. We are a civil society, and order must prevail.”“So, it could certainly cost – from my view right now, it will cost Biden the reelection. But, as you very correctly said, future years will not be – history will not be kind to these university presidents and these racist and politically-oriented politicians who only are interested in getting reelected, keeping their job, and really aren’t concerned with international human rights, which is what these university students are concerned with,” Fantina suggested.
AmericasProfessor’s Arrest Highlights Brutal US Police Response to Pro-Palestine Protests5 May, 03:17 GMT
