White House defends free speech at protests criticized for antisemitic comments

The White House defended its commitment to free speech amid questions about antisemitism at recent protests.

Pro-Palestinian protests have stirred controversy as participants have made antisemitic comments. A reporter asked about the issue during Monday’s press briefing.

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“I appreciate that the president supports the First Amendment right to protest, but does the president view anti-Israel protests and sentiment on college campuses as antisemitism?” the reporter asked.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded that she wouldn’t get into specific protests, but defended the administration’s free speech stance.

“The First Amendment, right? Peaceful protest. It’s really part of our democracy for folks to be able to express their feelings,” she said. “I’m not going to be able to get into any specifics on that. The president has been very clear in wanting to make sure that Jewish Americans, wanting to make sure that Arab Americans, Muslims, are protected here.”

President Joe Biden denounces any type of violence, she added, but “we’re just not going to get into blow-by-blows of what’s going on across the country.”

The reporter pressed again, asking if silence amid antisemitic letters or statements at protests amounted to complicity.

“If you talk to a lot of the protesters, you’ll hear antisemitic comments,” he said.

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Jean-Pierre reiterated that the White House supports peaceful protests.

“We in this administration are always going to denounce antisemitism,” she said. “Any form of hate, whether it’s against the Jewish community, against the Muslim community, the Arab American community, or the Palestinians. We are going to denounce any form of hate.”