During a White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to label anti-Israel protestors on college campuses in the United States as “extremists,” despite their engagement in antisemitic behavior, violence, and the growing fear experienced by Jewish students.
This occurred when Fox News’ Peter Doocy inquired whether President Biden considered these protestors to be “extremists.” Jean-Pierre chose not to characterize them as such, despite their actions and impact on Jewish students.
“What I can say is — what we’ve been very clear about this when it comes to antisemitism, there is no place. We have to make sure that we speak against it very loud and be very clear about that,” Jean-Pierre said, while claiming that President Biden ran for office as a result of the Charlottesville riots in 2017.
Watch Peter Doocy make Karine Jean-Pierre SQUIRM with one very simple question:
"You guys talk about extremists—it is usually about MAGA extremists—so what about these protestors who are making Jewish students feel unsafe on college campuses? Are they extremists?"
Notice that… pic.twitter.com/XRUrXCXGIu
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) October 30, 2023
“He saw neo-Nazis marching down the streets of Charlottesville with vile, anti-Semitic, just hatred. And he was very clear then, and he’s very clear now. He’s taken actions against this over the past two years. And he’s continued to be clear: There is no place, no place for this type of vile — and this kind of rhetoric,” she said.
“We hear you guys though talk about extremists all the time,” Doocy pressed. “It is usually about MAGA extremists. So what about these protesters who are making Jewish students feel unsafe on college campuses?”
“I have been very, very clear. We are calling out any form of hate, any form of hate. It is not acceptable. It should not be acceptable here. And we are going to continue to call that out,” she said, not calling the protestors “extremists” once again.
“And let me be very clear: This is a president that has continued to have that fight in his office, in this administration. You know, when he repealed Trump’s Muslim ban on his very first day in office. That is something that this president did,” she said. “… But I’m telling you, there’s no place for hate in America. And we condemn any anti-Semitic threat or incident in the strongest terms. And you heard me say at the top, I gave a message to students who are feeling — who are feeling under threat right now. We’re tracking these threats very closely. We are there for them. No student should have to be able to go to class, live on campus in fear,” Jean-Pierre responded.
