Legacy media is losing interest in campus protests and is now engaging with Republicans

For those who don’t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week’s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.

This week’s spin revolves around the anti-Israel protests that spread like wildfire across college campuses around the United States — and how unpopular those protests have become as students took control of public spaces, harassed Jewish students, barricaded themselves in campus buildings, and vandalized property. How unpopular is that, you ask? Unpopular enough that legacy outlets, if there weren’t enough Democrats willing to criticize the protesters, brought in Republicans to do it for them.

On ABC News’ “This Week,” host Jonathan Karl brought in Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) to discuss the protests, and Cotton made it clear that he had no patience for protests that were essentially parroting Hamas terrorist talking points and then hiding behind the First Amendment, claiming their destructive behavior was protected.

On campus protests, GOP Sen. Tom Cotton tells @JonKarl that college administrators should have sent in law enforcement “the very first day they set up their tents.”

“These students on campuses, they deserve our contempt. They also deserve our mockery.” https://t.co/vCkyrG8MPq pic.twitter.com/BxoJkFEIbP

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 5, 2024

Cotton first laid into the schools for allowing the protests to carry on as long as they did, saying that the schools should have sent security in to prevent or immediately disband illegal encampments the moment the first tent went up.

“These students on campuses, they deserve our contempt. They also deserve our mockery,” Cotton said, referencing some of the “demands” — including gluten-free and vegan food delivery options — made by students who were illegally squatting in campus buildings.

Cotton also asked why schools had been so reluctant to stop the protests before they turned into full-scale occupations, saying, “Where were the liberal administrators and liberal politicians sending in the police on the very first day?”

Sen. Tom Cotton pushes for an even stronger police response to pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses.

“Where were the liberal administrators and liberal politicians sending in the police on the very first day?” https://t.co/vCkyrG8MPq pic.twitter.com/JzwMGbGNad

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 5, 2024

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) joined Margaret Brennan on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” where he complained that the protesters who were engaging in acts of vandalism and violence — and those who were sharing anti-semitic signs and slogans — were damaging the credibility of what could have been a peaceful and effective protest.

“Those few protesters who are inciting violence or engaging in that kind of antisemitism are diminishing the thousands of young people who simply want the war to end. I guess I would say, look to John Lewis or Dr. King  — they, in their protests, were above reproach,” he said.

Rep. @RoKhanna (D-CA) calls for college campus protesters to show “discipline” amid reports that some have called for violence:

“Those few protesters who are inciting violence or engaging in that kind of antisemitism are diminishing the thousands of young people who simply… pic.twitter.com/Zlt5LZfMIV

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 5, 2024

Khanna went on to suggest that President Joe Biden should visit the campuses where protests are taking place — some of which have been deemed too unsafe for students to attend their final weeks of class or even take final exams — and equated students chanting Hamas talking points while they blocked Jewish students from walking through their “camps” to the anti-war protests of the Vietnam era.

“We have to understand this is a defining moment for this generation,” he said.

“I think the president should and will get out there on campuses” where there are protests over the Gaza war, says Rep. @RoKhanna (D-CA).

“We have to understand this is a defining moment for this generation,” he adds, comparing it to the protests against apartheid and the… pic.twitter.com/jscQLFLBBz

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 5, 2024

On CNN, “State of the Union” anchor Jake Tapper brought in former Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE), who is now serving as the President of University of Florida — and Sasse argued that the First Amendment should protect speech but did not necessarily extend to actions — especially when those actions included violence and destruction of property.

Sasse noted that protests had not disrupted the commencement ceremonies on his campus, but said that “the line is between speech and action” — and students understood that. He said that rather than clear out an illegal encampment, his administration had simply made the rules clear so that they didn’t set one up in the first place.

“I think the line is between speech and action.”

University of Florida President @BenSasse reacts to the campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war in an interview with @jaketapper. pic.twitter.com/e3L3wTKKfJ

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) May 5, 2024

On “Meet the Press,” NBC anchor Kristen Welker discussed the protests with former astronaut and Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Kelly said that once protesters crossed the line into taking illegal actions — engaging in violence, acts of vandalism, or other crimes — there was no reason for police not to step in and stop them.

“When they cross a line and when they commit crimes, they should be arrested. That’s the appropriate thing to do,” he said.

WATCH: @SenMarkKelly (D-Ariz.) says it’s “appropriate for police to step in” when protests on college campuses turn into “unlawful acts.”

“When they cross a line and when they commit crimes, they should be arrested. That’s the appropriate thing to do.” pic.twitter.com/IxqXXGeRlm

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 5, 2024

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) took things a step further during his appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” telling anchor Shannon Bream that he’d support a move to revoke travel visas for any foreign students who showed support for the terrorist group Hamas.

“Joe Biden — and he hasn’t done it because he’s weak and he’s feeble — but Joe Biden very early on should have done as I asked him to do back in October, if you’re in the streets of the United States, you’re here as a visitor, on a visa,” Rubio said. “You’re not an American, you’re here on a visa and you’re here to teach or you’re here to go to school, and you’re out there chanting on behalf of Hamas and Hezbollah — these terrorist groups, who by the way also hate America — we should revoke your visa.”

WATCH: Senator @marcorubio calls for foreign students supporting Hamas to have their visa revoked. pic.twitter.com/MWi1S3eMBk

— Fox News Sunday (@FoxNewsSunday) May 5, 2024

The only Sunday show to not get the memo was MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.” The former White House Press Secretary instead continued to beat what appears to be the only drum she has — she invited Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to join her, and they took turns complaining about what Americans could expect from another term with former President Donald Trump.

.@RepRaskin: “Americans are forewarned. If you look at the things he’s talking about doing mass roundups and incarceration and deportations… That is an authoritarian program. That’s right out of the authoritarian playbook of Mussolini and beyond.” pic.twitter.com/W5ZqTAedy6

— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) May 5, 2024

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