Repub­li­cans keep pres­sure on Biden after cam­pus protest con­dem­na­tion

Pres­i­dent Joe Biden put to rest spec­u­la­tion Thurs­day over how strong­ly he would come down on a wave of dis­rup­tive protests engulf­ing col­lege cam­pus­es.
After a week of silence, he called for order to be restored as pro-Pales­tin­ian demon­stra­tors force the can­cel­la­tion of class­es and grad­u­a­tion cer­e­monies over the war in Gaza.
But the Repub­li­can response, rang­ing from mea­sured to overt­ly par­ti­san, reflect­ed how the pres­i­dent will be unable to escape the dis­or­der plagu­ing Democ­rats, who oppose the civil­ian deaths in Gaza but want to dis­tance them­selves from extreme ele­ments of the par­ty base.
Rep. Elise Ste­fanik (R‑NY), the No. 3 Repub­li­can in the House, said the pres­i­dent “failed to meet the moment,” while Sen. Josh Haw­ley (R‑MO) mocked Biden’s men­tion of Islam­o­pho­bia in a speech con­demn­ing anti­semitism.
Sen. John Thune (R‑SD), run­ning to be the next GOP leader in the Sen­ate, wel­comed Biden’s address but said it had come too late.
Two days ear­li­er, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D‑NY), the Senate’s top Demo­c­rat, came out against what he …