Democratic lawmakers demand Biden condemn left-wing of his party

Two Democratic lawmakers called on President Biden to condemn the left-wing of his party while addressing the rise of antisemitism in the U.S. after weeks of anti-Israel protests on college campuses. 

"He needs to remind Americans that Auschwitz is not long ago and not far away. That pluralism and tolerance are part of America's DNA and I hope in so doing that he explicitly refutes the left of his party for their role in fomenting this antisemitism," Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., told CNN's Kasie Hunt on Tuesday morning. 

He added, "That will be a marker of leadership that he is willing to not just say, as he did after Charlottesville, that that type of hate is unacceptable, but it‘s also unacceptable when it happens within his own party, as regrettably it is right now, in the United States." 

During a speech on Capitol Hill Tuesday, at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony, Biden denounced antisemitism and called out anyone attempting to minimize the Oct. 7 attacks carried out by Hamas. 

Rep. Jake Auchincloss called on President Biden to condemn the left of the Democratic Party in his speech on antisemitism.  (Screenshot/CNN)

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"On college campuses, Jewish students blocked, harassed and attacked while walking to class. Antisemitism, antisemitic posters, slogans, calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world's only Jewish state. Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and on Oct. 7, including Hamas' appalling use of sexual violence to torture and terrorize Jews," Biden said. "It's absolutely despicable and it must stop." 

While Biden didn't directly call out the left-wing, during CNN special coverage immediately following his remarks, Hunt questioned how members of the Democratic Party would receive the president's remarks, adding that he clearly didn't "both sides" the issue.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., also recently suggested some members of his party have not been quick to condemn antisemitism coming from the left, Politico reported.

"There are lessons from Charlottesville. It was more comfortable for Democrats when they saw the antisemitism of the right — Aryan men with Tiki torches," Moskowitz said. "Now that it’s on our side it’s not as comfortable, is it? We’re watching the tribalness and the partisanship of today play into this."

Hunt also asked Auchincloss during the Tuesday morning interview if his fellow Democratic lawmakers in the House have impacted the antisemitism debate. 

"It‘s a question of double standards. The kinds of speech and conduct that feel acceptable when it‘s targeted towards Jews or Israelis, it doesn‘t feel acceptable against other protected classes in the United States. And it’s also a question of insufficiently separating criticism of the Israeli government with criticism of the Jewish people, or of all Zionists, period. And then the third element is, we have to fully condemn Oct. 7 and put the culpability where it belongs, which is with Hamas," Auchincloss responded.

Student protesters march around their encampment on the Columbia University campus, Monday, April 29, 2024, in New York.  (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

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Asked specifically if he believed there were members of his party who are antisemitic, he said, "members of the party who encourage and egg on protesters, who have taken on an antisemitic bent, are making the environment on these campuses worse for Jewish students."

Auchincloss, who has spoken to Harvard University students, said Jewish and Israeli students on campus have experienced antisemitism in different ways.

"The Jewish students have to code their Zionism to work in progressive spaces. If you’re a Jewish student and you want to be active in LGBT issues, if you want to be active in democracy issues, you can't also be Zionists. They have to now suppress that element of their identity. Israeli students are just downright harassed on campus. For them, they cannot participate in most of the academic and social settings on many of these universities," he said. 

President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Auchincloss also called on the Department of Education to investigate colleges and universities for "failing to uphold their Title IV responsibilities." Title VI of the Civil Rights "prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance," according to the department.

Biden previously spoke out against antisemitism and campus anti-Israel protests that turned violent in a brief speech on Thursday.

"So let me be clear ... Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is. It's against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law. Vandalism. Trespassing. Breaking windows. Shutting down campuses. Forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations. None of this is a peaceful protest," Biden said. "Threatening people. Intimidating people. Instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. It's against the law."