Former President Donald Trump speculated Wednesday morning that the ongoing riots on college campuses are intentionally drawing attention away from the border.
Trump made the assertion following a night of discord on Columbia University’s campus as New York Police Department officers clashed with students protesting in support of Palestinians.
“Do you think that the Radical Left Lunatics that are causing all of the CHAOS at our Colleges and Universities are doing so in order to take the FOCUS away from our Southern Border, where millions of people, many from prisons and mental institutions, are pouring into our Country? Just askin’…???”
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Trump repeatedly condemned the violent anti-Israel protests erupting across the country, telling Fox News Digital that “weak and ineffective leadership” at universities must be immediately “replaced” while declaring that antisemitism “must be stopped quickly and effectively.”
Pro-Palestinian agitators clashed with pro-Israel students on UCLA’s campus overnight, with local officials warning students that the campus was “out of control” and “no longer safe.”
Police with riot gear arrived at UCLA shortly after 1:00 a.m. at UCLA to gain control of campus amid hours of violence between anti-Israel and pro-Israel counter-protesters.
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“This violence has to stop immediately,” Trump told Fox News Digital early Wednesday morning. “Weak and ineffective leadership at colleges and universities must be replaced, and fast.”
Students have been arrested at Columbia University, City College of New York, Tulane University, the University of Arizona and more. Police dispersed gas, fired rubber bullets and clashed with demonstrators at the Arizona encampment. State troopers were seen on campus with pepper ball guns and gas masks.
The protests have dominated news cycles for days as the unrest continues, but surveys continue to show illegal immigration is the top concern of U.S. voters.
Americans ranked immigration as the most important issue facing the United States for a third consecutive month, according to a new poll released on Tuesday.
An April 1-22 Gallup survey found that 27% of Americans ranked immigration as the most important problem facing the U.S.
Immigration topped Gallup’s open-ended trend for a third consecutive month. It marked the longest consecutive stretch for the immigration issue in the past 24 years.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
