On Tuesday, Donald Trump pushed unsubstantiated claims about how Columbia University’s ongoing protests found momentum with “paid” and “professional agitators,” who’ve been “made by the same printer.”
Proclaiming the protesters present on the scene at Columbia University as “paid agitators, professional agitators,” Trump spoke of the supposed “identical” signs. “You know, when you see signs and they’re all identical. That means they’re being paid by a source,” the former President alleged.
Trump weighs in on pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University
While no corroborated proof has addressed the artificial presence of demonstrators at the various nationwide pro-Palestine protests, Trump has painted a new picture altogether.
“These are hand-painted signs where people would go to their basement and paint something because they really believed it,” continued Trump. “These are all signs that are identical… made by the same printers,” the ex-president projected. He eventually tied his perception of the anti-Israel protests to the presumption that “somebody at the top” was paying these agitators at Columbia, synonymously equating it to a “great disservice to (the) country.”
Additionally, Trump even took the chance to hit back at Biden administration: “Biden has to do something. Biden is supposed to be the voice of our country, and it’s certainly not much of a voice.”
All rising pro-Palestine demonstrations have erupted as a response to Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict. In addition to demanding a ceasefire and relinquishing the military occupation in the Gaza Strip, the protesters have also pushed universities to divest from connections with Israel, which are, in turn, aiding the violent decimation of the Gaza Strip.
Despite the blown-out nationwide activism, Columbia has become the hub of political rhetoric, with the campus being the pioneering centre of these protests. The defiant acts of activism have disfavourably threatened Columbia University President Minouche Shafik’s position, with bipartisan lawmakers jointly denouncing the handling of the situation.
The growing number of arrests has extended past a thousand. Disturbing videos of scenes from the University of Utah also emerged on Monday as riot police were spotted dragging protesters, with reports of them possibly even firing rubber bullets at the student agitators.
