Biden campaign officials have said they don’t see the protest fallout imperiling the president’s chances of winning a second term. They have said the demonstrators represent a small, yet vocal, segment of young voters and that the war is not the decisive issue for most in their age group.

Young Americans support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza by a five-to-one margin, but just 2% said it was the issue that concerns them the most, according to a Harvard Institute of Politics youth survey taken last month. Biden held a two percentage point lead over Trump in Michigan, according to the Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll.

Political calculations

Further distancing himself from Israel could create problems for Biden in other battlegrounds like Pennsylvania, where Jewish voters outnumbered Muslim voters by nearly two to one in 2020.

Biden’s delicate political balance between maintaining support for Israel and ratcheting down tensions with pro-Palestinian groups has given his opponents an opening to criticize him. Trump admonished the protesters and told reporters on Tuesday that Biden was to blame for the ongoing conflicts at home and abroad. He also threatened to seize the endowments of schools that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

House Speaker Mike Johnson escalated Republican criticism of the protests, paying a visit to Columbia’s campus on Wednesday and calling for the resignation of the university’s president, Minouche Shafik.

“My intention is to call President Biden after we leave here and share with him what we have seen with our own two eyes and demand that he take action,” Johnson told reporters at a press conference on the school’s campus. “If this is not contained quickly and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard.”

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(With assistance from Michelle Jamrisko and Hadriana Lowenkron.)

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