Ted Cruz calls out lack of ‘real presidential leadership’ amid anti-Israel protests
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joins the ‘Brian Kilmeade Show’ to discuss how President Biden and the Democrats are ‘terrified’ of alienating the ‘radical anti-Israel base.’
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, criticized President Biden on the "Brian Kilmeade Show" Thursday, saying he "is not willing to do anything" about growing antisemitism in the Democratic Party. Cruz said Biden and Democrats are "terrified" of alienating voters who are anti-Israel and have been "taught to hate America."
TED CRUZ: I got to say, Joe Biden and the entire Democrat Party leadership has been AWOL as we are seeing this horrific antisemitism erupting on college campuses across the country. The protests, the anti-Semitic protests, the anti-Israel protests we're seeing have been disgusting. They have been repulsive. These are radicals whose minds have been poisoned. They have been taught to hate Israel, and they've been taught to hate America. And they are chanting in support of Hamas and in support of vicious terrorists. You look at a university, the Orthodox rabbi at Columbia, advising them to stay home because they said Columbia cannot and will not protect your safety. That is utterly unacceptable. And the university administrators side with the radicals. They side with the protesters and Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer. And the Democrat leadership is terrified of alienating the radical anti-Israel base. And so they are silenced. Joe Biden is basically in witness protection because he's unwilling to speak out and infuriate the radical left in the Democrat Party.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Think how different it would be with real presidential leadership. I'll tell you, the president should have spoken out immediately, and the president should have said this is unacceptable. We will not allow people to harass and threaten the safety of Jewish students on campus. And any radical who is protesting, who threatens another student, they will be arrested, they will be prosecuted, they will be expelled. And if they are not from America, they will be deported. There's no reason we should allow foreigners who are chanting ‘Death to America’ to stay on a discretionary visa. That's what leadership would be. Think back to President Dwight D. Eisenhower when you had racist Democrats in the South refusing to integrate schools, refusing to protect African-American students. President Eisenhower sent in the National Guard. Joe Biden is not willing to do anything. And the reason is this is a growing part of the Democrat Party. There's a growing faction in the Democrat Party that hates Israel, that is openly antisemitic. And it's not just the "Squad." You know, just a few days ago, AOC was standing next to Joe Biden, and she explicitly expressed her concern. She spoke out in solidarity with the rabid antisemites at Columbia and NYU and Yale. And Biden stood next to her, just grinning with a goofy grin and unwilling to say anything to the contrary.
UCLA FORCED TO MOVE TO REMOTE LEARNING AMID ANTISEMITIC PROTESTS, ENCAMPMENT ON CAMPUS
After facing days of criticism and calls for an address to the nation, Biden delivered brief remarks from the White House Thursday morning.
The president on Thursday defended the right to protest but insisted that "order must prevail" as college campuses across the country face unrest over the war in Gaza.
"Dissent is essential for democracy," he said at the White House. "But dissent must never lead to disorder."
Biden said he did not support calls to send in the National Guard. He also said that the protests have not prompted him to reconsider his approach to the war.
"There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it's antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab-Americans or Palestinian-Americans. It's simply wrong. There's no place for racism in America. It's all wrong. It's un-American," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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