The White House rejected the Republican president Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) call to deploy the National Guard to college campuses that are seeing large-scale protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict.
What happened: House Speaker Johnson urged the president on Thursday Joe Biden mobilize the National Guard to quell widespread protests on college campuses related to the Israel-Hamas war, as reported by The Hill. Johnson had visited Columbia University on Wednesday, where the first major pro-Palestinian protest took place and has since spread to several colleges across the country.
In response, the White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre made clear Thursday that the power to deploy the National Guard rests with state governors, not the president. Jean-Pierre also recalled that President Biden has already condemned the protests as anti-Semitic.
“This is something for governors to decide,” he told reporters, according to the report.
Despite this, Johnson stepped up his rhetoric on Wednesday, describing the protests as “dangerous” and suggesting it could be an “opportune time for the National Guard” if “threats and intimidation” are not quickly curbed.
The protests, involving students and faculty, are pushing the Biden administration to support a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, suspend military aid to Israel and call on their universities to divest from Israeli interests.
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Because matter: The protests have gained momentum since April 2024. Students began calling on their universities to divest from Israel-linked stocks. The protests, which began at Columbia University, led to hundreds of arrests nationwide.
Political figures such as the former vice president Mike Pence and the sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) criticized the protests, with Pence stating, “There is no place for anti-Semitism in any form anywhere in the United States of America.”
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