President Joe Biden on Sunday offered his most direct recognition of U.S. students' anguish over the Israel-Hamas war, telling graduates of historically Black Morehouse College that he heard their voices of protest and that scenes from the conflict in Gaza break his heart, too.
President Joe Biden is delivering the commencement address at Morehouse College, the historically Black, male-only institution in Atlanta. The speech on Sunday offers Biden an election-year appearance before a Black audience, a key voting bloc for Democrats. It also could directly expose Biden to the anger that some Morehouse and other college students around the country have been expressing over his support for Israel in its war against Hamas militants in Gaza.
President Joe Biden has offered his most direct recognition of the anguish American college students are feeling over the Israel-Hamas war. Biden said during a commencement address Sunday at historically Black Morehouse College in Atlanta that he has heard the students' voices of protest and that scenes from the conflict in Gaza break his heart, too. The speech, and a separate one he gave later in Detroit, are part of a burst of outreach to Black constituents by the president. Black support for Biden has softened since he was elected in 2020. There were scattered demonstrations over the war but the Morehouse ceremony was not disrupted.