Missouri Senate candidate Lucas Kunce is facing heat from Republican incumbent Josh Hawley over his refusal to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. Hawley has launched a radio ad mocking Kunce’s silence, while Kunce has maintained that he’s focused on issues rather than endorsements.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley has penned a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to deploy the National Guard to safeguard Jewish American students at Columbia University from ongoing protests. The protests, described by Hawley as “illegal pro-Hamas demonstrations,” have prompted the cancellation of in-person classes during Passover. Hawley cites Biden’s statement condemning antisemitism and calls for action to match those words. He invokes the deployment of the National Guard in 1957 to protect black students attending Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, and urges similar action to protect Jewish students at Columbia and other campuses where they face risk.
Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have called on President Joe Biden to deploy the National Guard to suppress pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. The senators have accused the protesters of engaging in “nascent pogroms” against Jews, although there have been no reports of antisemitic violence stemming from the protests.
Biden has not responded to the demands, but Columbia University President Nemat Shafik has authorized the New York Police Department to clear an encampment of protesters occupying a central lawn of the campus. Dozens of protesters, many of them students, were arrested and indefinitely suspended.
The use of police force has sparked outrage among students and faculty, and has led to calls for Shafik’s resignation. On Monday, Columbia announced that it would conduct classes virtually, citing concerns over the safety of Jewish students.
