Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Wednesday it "was a beautiful thing to watch" New York police officers raiding a Columbia University building occupied by pro-Palestinian students, and called on officials to crack down on campus protests across the United States.
"New York was under siege last night," Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Wisconsin, praising the police officers for arresting about 300 protesters at Columbia and City College of New York who he referred to as "raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers."
Trump comments addressed the spread of student protests against the war in Gaza across the U.S. in recent days, seeking to capitalize on concern over campus unrest.
Republican lawmakers have accused some university administrators of ignoring antisemitic rhetoric and harassment. Many student organizers say they are peaceful and have widely disavowed violence against pro-Israel counter-protesters, although some Jewish students have said they feel unsafe on campus and unnerved by chants they say are antisemitic.
Trump casts himself as an outlaw hero because he has no other defense. And he understands that people will believe anything. Just say it loudly and over and over.
@R3publicAuroraGreen2wks2W
Even anti- heros must have loyalty to an ideal and, presumably, one’s band of comrades. Mr Trump, demonstrably does neither, promoting only himself and throwing his supporters and peers under the bus as easily as his enemies. Let’s be careful not to confuse the current fever dream about this authoritarian with any sort of real antiestablishment ethos.
Reading about Donald Trump , his political ambition , his legal predicament and his ramblings are exhausting. It all feels like a very bad dream from which we may never awake. Days ago, he mused about not accepting election results (again) if he loses (again) . He is clearly the most malevolent force American politics have ever encountered.
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
Considering both sides of the student protests, how do you balance the line between freedom of speech and creating a safe campus environment?
@9M3PDJ32wks2W
you can still protest peacefully and make your voice heard
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
Do you believe calling protesters 'raging lunatics' is a fair characterization for those advocating for political causes?
@9M3GF3X2wks2W
Yes, they have caused too much trouble for something happening in another country and doing the stuff that some of them have done is crazy.
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
The historical activity of users engaging with this general discussion.
Loading data...
Loading chart...
Loading the political themes of users that engaged with this discussion
Loading data...