Watch | 'Order Must Prevail' Amid Campus Protests On Gaza, Says Biden In Televised Address

Breaking his silence on the nationwide Gaza campus protests, President Joe Biden, in a televised address, on Thursday said the United States was not authoritarian but added that “order must prevail.”

Speaking from the White House, Biden said that there was “no place” for anti-Semitism or other hate speech on university campuses, which have been roiled by pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza.

This address comes as tension at US colleges and universities has been building for days as demonstrators refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to law enforcement to clear them by force, leading to several clashes.

After finishing his remarks at the White House, a reporter asks whether the demonstrations have led him to reconsider any of his policies regarding the Middle East. “No,” he responds. Asked whether he’s thinking of deploying the National Guard to restore order on college campuses, Biden responds, “No.

The US President’s remarks came as hundreds of helmeted police swarmed the site of a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of California at Los Angeles early on Thursday, arresting defiant demonstrators and dismantling their encampment. This crackdown marked the latest flashpoint in mounting tensions on U.S. college campuses, where protests over Israel’s war in Gaza have led to student clashes with each other and with law enforcement.

(With agency inputs)