Biden Tells Morehouse Graduates He Hears Their Voices Of Protest Over War In Gaza

The comments were the most direct recognition to U.S. students about the campus protests that have swept across the country.

ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday told Morehouse College graduates during his commencement speech that he heard their voices of protest over the Israel-Hamas war, and that scenes from the conflict in Gaza have been heartbreaking.

“I support peaceful nonviolent protest,” he told students at the all-male, historically Black college, some who wore keffiyeh scarves around their shoulders on top of their black graduation robes. “Your voices should be heard, and I promise you I hear them.”

The president said there was a “humanitarian crisis in Gaza, that’s why I’ve called for an immediate cease-fire to stop the fighting” and bring home the hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. The comments, toward the end of his address that also reflected on American democracy and his role in safeguarding it, were the most direct recognition to U.S. students about the campus protests that have swept across the country.

“It’s one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world,” Biden told the graduates. “There’s nothing easy about it. I know it angers and frustrates many of you, including my family. But most of all I know it breaks your heart. It breaks mine as well.”

The speech — one planned later Sunday in Detroit — is part of a burst of outreach to Black constituents by the president, who has watched his support among these voters soften since their strong backing helped put him in the Oval Office in 2020.