White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to label anti-Israel protesters on college campuses across the United States as “extremists,” despite antisemitic rhetoric, violence, and rising fear among Jewish students.
During a press briefing at the White House, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre if President Joe Biden considered the protestors to be “extremists.”
Jean-Pierre also dodged when Doocy asked whether Biden saw the protests as youth just getting involved or if he thought the next generation was “doomed.”
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
DOOCY: “Thank you, Karine. Does President Biden think the anti-Israel protesters in this country are extremists?”
Jean-Pierre: “What I can say is, we’ve been very clear about this. When it comes to anti-Semitism, there’s no place — we have to make sure that we speak against it very loud and be — and be very clear about that. Remember what the president decided — when the president decided to run for president, is what he saw in Charlottesville in 2017, where 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, this kind of rhetoric.”
