The recording was made earlier.
President Biden is scheduled to visit a college campus on Sunday. This will be his first visit to a university since campuses across the country have become centers for protests regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict.
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President Biden will be giving a commencement speech at Morehouse College, an historically Black college in Atlanta. This decision has caused a stir among students and faculty at the school. The president of Morehouse College has even stated that he would rather end the ceremony than allow any potential disruption to occur and involve the police.
The speech will bring together a number of challenges facing Biden. These include the backlash over his divisive foreign policy stance on Israel within his own party, as well as his difficulties in maintaining support among young and Black voters, who will play a crucial role in his bid for re-election. All of this takes place in a battleground state that he only narrowly won in 2020.
According to Georgia-based Democratic strategist Fred Hicks, the president’s decision to deliver the commencement speech at Morehouse, the leading Black male college in the country, acknowledges the concerns around low voter turnout among Black men and young voters in this election. The campaign recognizes the need to take action and appeal to these demographics in order to regain their support.
Some strategists doubt that the crowd at Morehouse will engage in protests on Sunday, but Hicks mentioned that he wouldn’t be surprised if there were demonstrations or heckling during or around the graduation.
Hicks expressed concern about the risks involved in Biden’s appearance, stating that any protests could potentially overshadow the positive messaging from the president.
Many Black Americans have shown their support for the Palestinian cause amidst the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. According to a survey conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for Peace in March, nearly 7 in 10 Black Americans expressed their desire for the U.S. to call for an immediate cease-fire. While 42 percent of Black respondents stated that they did not feel a strong connection to either Israelis or Palestinians, 45 percent expressed a stronger sense of connection to Palestinians rather than Israelis.
The Biden administration is confident that issues during the commencement speech are unlikely to arise and has taken proactive measures to address any potential problems.
Steve Benjamin, the head of the administration’s Office of Public Engagement, recently had a meeting with students and faculty at Morehouse College. According to NBC News, the students expressed their concern that the president’s presence at the graduation could overshadow the event. They also worried that his address might sound more like a campaign speech, given the recent campus controversies happening across the country.
Benjamin expressed that he is not worried about Biden’s address stealing the spotlight from the commencement.
According to CNN, President David Thomas of Morehouse College expressed his stance on disruptive behavior during ceremonies and services. He made it clear that such behavior would not be tolerated if it hindered the enjoyment and participation of those in attendance. He emphasized that he would personally intervene and halt the proceedings rather than allowing police to remove individuals from the event using restraints.
Biden delivered his speech at a time when numerous college campuses, including Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles, were actively protesting against the conflict in Gaza. Some of these protests called for their respective universities to divest from entities that support Israel’s military. These demonstrations also highlighted the plight of the thousands of Palestinians who have lost their lives in Gaza since October. The offensive was launched by Israel in response to deadly terrorist attacks by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,000 Israelis.
Biden acknowledges the right of demonstrators to engage in peaceful protests. However, he strongly condemns the more extreme elements of the protests, such as acts of vandalism, seizing control of buildings, and disrupting commencement ceremonies, as was seen at Columbia University.
According to strategists, Biden will need to strike a delicate balance when addressing the graduates, blending a celebratory tone with an acknowledgment of the current politically charged climate.
According to Hopkins, it is crucial for him to acknowledge the prevailing sentiment in the country and recognize the deep-rooted dissatisfaction and unmet needs surrounding civil rights issues, both nationally and globally.
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