For weeks now, college students have been camping out at their campuses to protest the ongoing war in Gaza, and the role the United States has in it. While Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) – often a favorite of young voters – supports their cause, he’s also urging them not to lose sight of the big picture come November.
“We can be extremely upset at the Biden administration for their policies with regard to Israel and Gaza, but the difficulty is that in the real world that you live in, you’ve got to take a look at a whole lot of things,” he said, sitting in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee hearing room on Capitol Hill, per USA Today . “On the other hand, I would hope that most of the young people and protestors do not want to see Donald Trump, who is a racist, a sexist, a homophobe who doesn't acknowledge the reality of climate change, become elected president of the United States.”
In an exclusive interview with the outlet, Sanders said he’s concerned that younger voters are underestimating the true threat that Trump poses. Apart from the issues highlighted in his quote, Sanders said voters should also be worried about Trump’s admiration for authoritarian leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is “trying to undermine American democracy.”
As college students make headlines for their protests, polls show that the youngest cohort of American voters supports Palestinians in Gaza more than older generations. According to a Harvard/CAPS/Harris poll from last month, potential voters age 18 to 24 had the highest support for an unconditional ceasefire in the region at 67%.
War has been raging in Gaza since an Oct. 7 terrorist attack by the militant group Hamas. Here in the U.S., most agree that Hamas is at fault for the war. Many critics believe Israel has not done enough to protect Palestinian civilians as it tries to eradicate Hamas.
Per the Harvard/CAPS/Harris poll , young people in the U.S. are more likely to sympathize with Hamas than other age groups. The 18 to 24-year-old cohort was the only one where more than half (53%) said Hamas should continue running Gaza after the war. Additionally, 43% said they support Hamas more than Israel. A strong majority of people in this age group think Biden’s policy regarding the war is motivated by US national interest in a safe Israel rather than re-election.
“A Gallup survey released March 27 , a day before the Biden campaign’s fundraiser, showed 55% of all Americans disapprove of Israel’s military action,” said USA Today. “That includes 75% of Democrats, up from the 63% who said the same last November.”
A recent Harvard Youth poll found that President Biden would likely outperform former President Trump among both registered (50% Biden, 37% Trump) and likely young voters under 30 (56% Biden, 37% Trump).
“For context, at this stage in the 2020 election, the Harvard Youth Poll showed Biden leading Trump by 23 points among all young adults (51%-28%) and by 30 points (60%-30%) among likely voters under 30,” said the poll results.
Sanders is urging young people to vote for Biden, but he believes that the president and current administration should re-think their policy regarding Israel and its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I think for a start, changing their policy to Netanyahu and Israel would be a good step forward,” said the Senator. “I think that would be the first order of business. So I think the time is long overdue to change that.”
Some protestors of the war in Gaza also oppose Zionism, a movement that resulted in the establishment of Israel in their historic homeland. Though he is not Jewish, Biden has described himself as a Zionist, per USA Today.
Sanders was born into a Jewish family and in 2020 discussed how his Jewish heritage shaped his life.
“It impacts me very profoundly,” he said in a video posted by CNN . Sanders went on to explain that, “I remember as a kid, looking at these big picture books of World War II, and tears would roll down my cheeks, when I saw what happened to the Jewish people – 6 million people were killed by Hitler.”
Regarding Zionism – a movement that is not supported by all Jewish people – Sanders said he doesn’t worry about what the word means.
“All I know is that right now in Israel, you have an extreme right-wing government, which includes some out-and-out racists, period,” he said. “Hamas is a terrorist organization that started this war. Israel had the right to defend itself, but it does not have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people.”
As of this week, more than 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including civilians, per the Gaza Health Ministry. War has also made it difficult for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza and a United Nations report indicates that famine is imminent in the region, threatening 2 million people.
To criticize the actions of Israel’s government is not anti-Semitic, in Sanders’ view.
“I reject very strongly the suggestion that if people are concerned and raise strong concerns about the military that makes one anti-Semitic. That is just not the case,” he said. “I really find it outrageous that Netanyahu wants to hide the outrageous military behavior of his government behind the terrible image of antisemitism.”
Still, he said that prejudice against any group, whether it be Jewish people, Muslims or any other group, shouldn’t be tolerated.
Going forward, Sanders thinks that Biden needs to be tougher on Netanyahu. The senator even voted against an aid bill signed last month that includes $26 billion in funds for Israel.
“The president needs to tell Netanyahu ‘you're not going to get a nickel unless there is a huge and significant increase in humanitarian aid, that the potential of famine is ended tomorrow,” Sanders argued. “You stop the terrible actions of the settlers on the West Bank and that we begin serious discussion about a two-state solution. If you want the money, these are the things you got to do.”
Outside of the war in Gaza, Sanders praised Biden’s work in other areas such as health care access and infrastructure.
“I think the president has much to be proud of in terms of what he has already accomplished. I don’t know if he gets credit for it,” he said.
Sanders isn’t the only high-profile Democrat to diss Trump recently. Former President Barack Obama, who won two elections with Biden at his side as vice president, said recently that the presumptive GOP candidate is not considered a “ serious guy .”
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