By Andrea Shalal and Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. president Joe Biden has no plans to forgo delivering the speech at Morehouse College, a historically black men’s college in Georgia, on May 19, White House officials said Monday, dismissing criticism from some faculty and students of his Israel policy were disgusted.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday that Biden would continue as planned at the historic college that was founded in 1867 and includes civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
“He’s looking forward to doing that. It’s such an important moment in time,” Jean-Pierre told a regular White House briefing.
Morehouse spokesperson Jasmine Gurley said no changes are planned regarding Biden’s speech. “We’re moving full steam ahead,” she said.
Miles Ross, a senior at the university, told Reuters he thought Biden’s visit was “clearly a political move.”
“I’m absolutely against it,” he said. “People have very strong feelings about what’s going on with Palestine, Gaza and Congo, especially here on campus. So if he starts talking about something like that… he’s going to open himself up to a lot of scrutiny and criticism.”
Biden, a Democrat, is trying to shore up support among black voters ahead of November’s presidential election, where national polls show him tied to former President Donald Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris began a nationwide tour Monday to promote the administration’s policies among black voters, especially men.
Pro-Palestinian protests and encampments have spread at universities across the country in recent weeks, after Columbia University called on New York City police to dismantle tents and arrest more than 100 people.
Some Morehouse faculty and students want the college to rescind its invitation to Biden because of his administration’s staunch support for Israel’s war in Gaza, where the death toll has risen above 34,500. Israel has been the largest recipient of US aid since World War II, and the US has blocked several United Nations voices criticizing Israel’s attacks.
Jared Loggins, a professor of black studies and political science at Amherst College and a Morehouse alumnus, called the invitation a “moral disaster,” especially given Rev. King’s fervent anti-military views.
Tom Perez, Biden’s senior adviser and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, said Biden was looking forward to the visit, in part because of the school’s connection to Rev. King.
“Joe Biden came of age in the civil rights movement and his entire worldview was shaped as part of the protest movement and in particular the protest movement over the mistreatment of Black people in Delaware and across America,” Perez said.
Perez said he and other top administration officials would continue to work directly with the Arab and Muslim communities in Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Heather Timmons)
