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Former US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he arrives at his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 23, 2024. (Photo by BRENDAN MCDERMID/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Former President Trump addressed the anti-Israel protests on college campuses Tuesday morning, calling them a "disgrace."
Speaking ahead of his appearance in Manhattan court for his criminal trial, Trump blamed President Biden for the demonstrations, which have interrupted classes at Columbia and NYU and led to dozens of arrests.
"It's really on Biden, he's got the wrong signal. He's got the wrong tone. He's got the wrong words. He doesn't know who he's backing and it's a mess," Trump said.
"If this were me, they'd be after me, they'd be after me so much but they're trying to give him a pass and what's going on is a disgrace to our country, and it's all Biden's fault," he continued.
"Everybody knows he's got no message, he's got no compassion and he doesn't know what he's doing, can't put two sentences together. Frankly, he is the worst president in the history of our country."
"The signals he puts out are so bad. And I can tell you, he's no friend of Israel, that's for sure," Trump added.
Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and other women he allegedly had sexual affairs with before his 2016 campaign for president.
Columbia University has told FOX Business on Tuesday that it is "grateful" for Robert Kraft’s "years of generosity and service" after the New England Patriots team owner announced he is pulling financial support to his alma mater over the antisemitic protests unfolding there.
On Monday, Kraft, through a statement released by his philanthropic organization Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, said he is "deeply saddened at the virulent hate that continues to grow on campus and throughout our country" and that he is no longer "comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken."
When asked to respond to his remarks Tuesday, a Columbia spokesperson told FOX Business that "Columbia is grateful to Mr. Kraft for his years of generosity and service to Columbia."
"This is a time of crisis for many members of our community and we are focused on providing the support they need while keeping our campus safe," the spokesperson added.
President Biden’s latest comment on antisemitic protests on college campuses is being called his "very fine people on both sides" moment by some on social media.
Following the president’s Earth Day comments at Prince William Forest Park in Virginia, reporters caught up with Biden and asked for a comment on anti-Israel protests occurring across multiple universities at the time.
"Do you condemn the antisemitic protests on college campuses?" Biden was asked.
"I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I have set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians," he said.
Equating the antisemitic protests with people who "don’t understand" the Palestinians ignited several comments accusing Biden of echoing Trump’s "very fine people on both sides" Charlottesville comment from 2017.
"This sure sounds like he’s ACTUALLY saying there are very fine people on both sides," OutKick founder Clay Travis remarked.
"’Very fine people on both sides,’" RedState writer Bonchie agreed.
American Spectator writer Nate Hochman noted, "I'm old enough to remember when ‘good people on both sides’ was evil and racist."
Fox News Digital's Lindsay Kornick contributed to this update.
Police intervene and arrest more than 100 students at New York University (NYU) who continue their demonstration on campus in solidarity with the students at Columbia University and to oppose Israel's attacks on Gaza, in New York, United States on April 22, 2024. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Police offices arrested 133 demonstrators at the anti-Israel protests at New York University's campus on Monday night, NYPD sources told Fox News.
Officers used zip ties and flex cuffs to remove the protesters from campus. They were taken on a bus to police headquarters, where they were charged with trespassing, the sources said.
The arrests come after an NYU spokesperson told local media that the protestors were behaving in a “disorderly, disruptive, and antagonizing manner."
Earlier, anti-Israel protesters had formed a human chain as police moved in to break up the demonstration.
Video shot by Fox News Digital shows the NYPD telling students: "You have been warned by New York University to leave the area."
Those who did not leave soon, would be arrested for trespassing, NYPD said.
NYU's Global Campus Safety posted on Instagram that protesters had breached the barriers set up at Gould Plaza, Fountain Walker.
"The one safety requirement we made was that no additional protestors could enter Gould Plaza. With the breach of the barricades early this afternoon, that requirement was violated, and we witnessed disorderly, disruptive, and antagonizing behavior that has interfered with the safety and security of our community," the university said in a statement.
"We cannot tolerate people getting hurt. You will need to clear the plaza by 4:00 pm. If you leave now, no one will face any consequences for today’s actions—no discipline, no police."
Mass arrests began around 8:30 p.m. Within an hour, the demonstration had largely fizzled out.
Fox News' Alexis McAdams and Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz and Julia Bonavita contributed to this update.
An Arab-Israeli journalist said anti-Israel agitators assaulted him ahead of a lecture he was supposed to give at Columbia University last Thursday.
Yoseph Haddad, a journalist, Israel Defense Forces veteran and activist who founded the interfaith group Together Vouch for Each Other, said a pro-Israel student group invited him to speak on campus about the coalition of Arabs and Jews in Israel last week, right as anti-Israel protests rocked the college campus.
When he first arrived, he was alarmed to find agitators chanting "intifada" and "from the river to the sea," and confronted the group.
"As an Arab, I know the real meaning of [intifada]. Of course, the direct meaning is, ‘a violent uprising.’ But people do not understand what this ‘violent uprising’ means," Haddad told Fox News Digital.
"Intifada means the moral death of Jews, the moral death of Arabs," he said.
The Israeli journalist said he asked the group how they could "literally support terrorism" before they turned their hostilities toward him. Haddad said they began hurling death threats and antisemitic slurs at him even though he is not Jewish.
Fox News Digital's Nikolas Lanum and Kristine Parks contributed to this update.
Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman called the anti-Israel protests on Ivy League campuses were "utterly shocking" and warned that antisemitism "can only end in tragedy.
Friedman, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz when she was five years old, reacted to footage from the protests at Columbia and New York University's campuses on "Fox & Friends."
"I am shocked. I am pained. I'm scared, both for America, I'm scared for the Jews. And very painful for our young people," Friedman said. "What's shocking most of all is that the professors, some of them, are on board."
Police made dozens of arrests and dispersed the protests at Columbia and NYU as demonstrators screamed antisemitic slogans and demanded that the schools divest from Israel.
Such demonstrations have exploded across college campuses in recent months out of protest at Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which in turn is a reaction to Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on Israel that saw 1,200 people killed and around 240 taken hostage.
Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry claims that the war has killed at least 34,097 Palestinians and wounded another 76,980, though Israel has disputed these figures. The ministry doesn't differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count.
Fox News Digital's Stephen Sorace contributed to this update.
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