Some students turned their backs as President Joe Biden delivered a commencement speech Sunday at Morehouse College, a historically black college and Martin Luther King Jr.’s alma mater.
Students turn their backs on Joe Biden at Morehouse College commencement. pic.twitter.com/QDe3nhO7KL
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) May 19, 2024
At least three Morehouse graduates could be seen in photos with their backs turned, according to a post on X by a pro-Trump super PAC. One of them wore a keffiyeh scarf to signify solidarity with Palestinians.
The press pool traveling with Biden acknowledged seeing one student who stood at the back of the ceremony with his back turned and his right fist raised. According to the pool, a “few” graduates and faculty staff were wearing keffiyeh scarves.
President Joe Biden, second from right, is greeted by alumni of Morehouse College including Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) from left, Marlon Kimpson, a member of the advisory committee for trade policy and negotiations in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA) upon arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on May 18, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
While Biden called Hamas’s attack on Israel in October “vicious,” and mentioned “hostages” from the attack, he focused more on the “humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” called for an “immediate ceasefire,” and told students their “voices should be heard,” in reference to the pro-Palestinian protests breaking out at college campuses.
“I support peaceful, non-violent protest. Your voices should be heard. And I promise you, I hear them,” he said.
Biden’s appearance at Morehouse aimed at shoring up support among black American voters, seen as a key Democratic constituency, ahead of the 2024 election.
Recent polls have shown Biden’s support among black voters has slipped.
As reported on May 6, an I&I/TIPP Poll survey showed that since 2020, Trump has made a three-point gain, while Biden has lost 28 percent, among black voters.
A New York Times/Siena poll also showed that Trump is winning more than 20 percent of black voters — the highest level of black support for a presidential candidate since the Civil Rights Act was enacted in 1964.
Biden applauded as valedictorian DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza.
