Protest leaders, in their own words

May 03, 2024

By Lauren Egan, Ben Johansen and Eli Stokols

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Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.

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As student protests have captured the attention of the country these past few weeks, West Wing Playbook wanted to get a sense of how some campus organizers are thinking about President JOE BIDEN and their presidential vote in November.

We spoke to three different student organizers: YAYA ANANTANANG, a senior at George Washington University; EZRI TYLER, a sophomore at Vanderbilt University; and HABIBA SAYMA, a senior at Columbia University.

The following conversations have been edited for length and clarity.

What’s your own personal motivating factor for getting involved?

YAYA: I am very aware of how my tax dollars and tuition dollars contribute towards this ongoing occupation and genocide. And to see how normalized this partnership with Israel is at my university, but also in this country, has been very jarring.

EZRI: I’m Armenian and my family are survivors of genocide. The United States only acknowledged the Armenian Genocide in 2021. Having that background and understanding that consistently histories are purposely skewed — you cannot be silent on this issue.

HABIBA: I’ve looked at events in history like the civil rights movement or the anti-Vietnam war protests and always wondered what I would have done. This is not a historical anomaly. Student protesters have never been on the wrong side of history.

What message are you trying to send Biden?

YAYA: My message is that we do not support Biden. We do not capitulate to the liberal electoral politics, because, quite frankly, the liberation of Palestinians will not come through a Democratic president but by organizing and ensuring that there is full divestment within all of these institutions.

EZRI: While it's a more localized approach of calling for our universities to divest, it's very much in that realm of also calling for the United States to divest and increase sanctions and make sure that we are no longer complicit in ongoing genocide.

HABIBA: The protests are a means of showing him that the people he is supposed to represent do not agree with his politics. We will not be complicit in the genocide that he's supporting.

Could you vote in 2020?

YAYA: Yes, I voted for Biden.

EZRI: I actually could not.

HABIBA: Yeah, and I did vote for Biden.

Do you think DONALD TRUMP would be better for the Palestinian cause?

YAYA: He will be a lot worse given his blatantly Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric around Arab and Muslim people. Both presidents normalize ties with Israel. I think promoting Biden as a better option between the two works against the goal that we have as organizers to call out this trend of normalization in our own government.

EZRI: This is an issue with a lot of the narrative going around where there’s snippets of police brutalizing protesters currently and a lot of people are saying, ‘This is a snapshot of what Trump's America would look like.’ When, in reality, we’re currently living in that America.

HABIBA: No, I don’t. I think it would be the same reaction, if not worse. But the thing with Trump is that he wouldn't try to hide behind the facade of democracy.

Is there anything that Biden could do between now and November that would make you rethink your decision?

YAYA: Commitment to cutting all military, political and financial ties with Israel. And also committing to Palestinians’ right of return as outlined by the UN commission for Palestinian refugees.

EZRI: Not only stop arm sales and stop continued aid to Israel, but to actually increase sanctions and acknowledge [the current war] as a genocide.

HABIBA: Asking [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to have a permanent ceasefire. And from there, he needs to stop funding this genocide.

If Trump were to win, would you feel guilty about not voting for Biden?

YAYA: Absolutely. [There are] very apparent material differences between Biden and Trump. But I think because of Biden’s more progressive stance, it tends to obfuscate the very real and sort of violent ways that his own platform and his own governance have also worked to marginalize thriving communities.

EZRI: Regardless of the candidate, we will still be experiencing extreme police brutality. We will still be experiencing extreme continued aid to genocide. All of these same systemic issues aren't partial to one candidate.

HABIBA: I don't know if I would feel guilt because for me, they would both be essentially doing the same thing regardless. The First Amendment is not being upheld even under Biden. We’re seeing the deterioration of democracy in front of our eyes.

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POTUS PUZZLER

Which president was a licensed bartender?

(Answer at bottom.)

Photo of the Week

Actor Mark Hamill joins White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the daily White House press briefing on Friday.

Actor Mark Hamill joins White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the daily White House press briefing on Friday. | Getty Images/Kevin Dietsch

The Oval

FULL STEAM AHEAD: Israel has informed aid groups and the Biden administration of its plans to begin removing Gazans from Rafah ahead of their invasion, our ERIN BANCO, MATT BERG and LARA SELIGMAN report. The Israel Defense Forces told the U.S. and aid groups that they have developed a plan to move people out of Rafah to al-Mawasi, a small strip of land on the southern Gaza coast. The IDF told aid groups that the invasion will move ahead “soon” but did not give a specific date, two people familiar with the conversations said.

A U.S. official cautioned that this is not their “final plan,” rather “some of their latest thinking.”

STACKED CROWD: President Biden on Friday awarded 19 politicians, activists and celebrities the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, NPR’s DEEPA SHIVARAM reports. The recipients include high-profile Democrats such as former House Speaker NANCY PELOSI (D-Calif); former Vice President AL GORE; former Secretary of State JOHN KERRY; and Rep. JAMES CLYBURN (D-S.C.). He also honored former New York City Mayor MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, who we believe is still a Democrat.

Biden also awarded the medal of freedom to Civil Rights leaders OPAL LEE and CLARENCE B. JONES, as well as actress MICHELLE YEOH and record-breaking Olympic swimmer KATIE LEDECKY.

UH, YEAH. THAT WASN’T VERY NICE: The Japanese Embassy delivered a rebuke (small but still) of President Biden’s recent remarks that Japan is “xenophobic,” our ADAM CANCRYN reports. “It is unfortunate that some of the comments were not based on an accurate understanding of Japan’s policies,” the embassy said in a statement to POLITICO. “We have raised this point to the U.S. government and explained Japan’s positions and policies once again.”

We wonder if RAHM heard more in private.

INSERT YOUR OWN DAMN STAR WARS PUN: Actor MARK HAMILL was at the White House on Friday, where he met with the president, whom he referred to as “Joe-B-Wan Kenobi.” Sporting a pair of aviator glasses that Biden gifted him, Hamill spoke at today’s press briefing, where he described Biden as “the most legislative successful president of my lifetime" and told reporters he was "grateful" to get time with the president.

"It just shows you that one person can be so influential and so positive in our lives," Hamill said. "Again, thank you so much, and PETER BAKER, I loved your book."

Bills, he's passed. Reelected, he may not get.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: Coverage of the April jobs report released Friday that showed 175,000 new jobs added last month and the unemployment rate holding below 4 percent for a record-tying 27th straight month. White House communications director BEN LABOLT reposted several economic correspondents, columnists and administration officials touting the news, as well as Biden’s official statement declaring “the great American comeback continues.”

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by our MEREDITH LEE HILL, who writes that a key Biden ally has been one of his staunchest critics on the war in Gaza. Celebrity chef and humanitarian activist JOSÉ ANDRÉS has been able to sidestep the norm for Biden circles, where loyalty is prized and public dissent is highly discouraged.

Andrés — who co-chairs the president’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition — launched a public onslaught of criticism towards Israel and the Biden administration this week following the killing of seven of his World Food Kitchen aid workers in Gaza last month by IDF forces. In a new WaPo op-ed and several posts on X, Andrés called out the president and senior administration officials by name. It’s the most significant critique yet on the White House’s approach to the war in Gaza from someone inside the administration.

WHAT’S UP, DOC? TYRESE HALIBURTON and the Indiana Pacers trounced the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday night, finishing off the Eastern Conference’s three seed in six games. You might recall that when we wrote about Biden’s March visit with Bucks officials, including head coach DOC RIVERS, we said that Rivers “would likely be available to campaign for Biden some time in early May.” We should have said “very early May.” But let’s be real, having Doc on the campaign trail probably wouldn’t do the Biden campaign any favors in Wisconsin. Or Pennsylvania.

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CAMPAIGN HQ

A NEW TARGET: The Biden campaign has rolled out new ads focused on abortion, this time targeting Latino men, Reuters’ TREVOR HUNNICUTT reports. The new advertising push will be aimed at convincing this cohort that abortion rights are a vital issue that affects them. The ad, airing in battleground states, features CESAR CARREON, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who now works as a Las Vegas carpenter, mentioning his daughters and slamming Donald Trump as “not tough” and for taking away women's “freedom.”

SOUTHWEST BOUND: DAISY MARTINEZ has joined the Biden campaign as deputy press secretary in Arizona, she announced on X. She comes from the Democratic Attorney Generals Association, where she served as communications manager and bilingual press assistant.

THE BUREAUCRATS

ALL HANDS ON DECK: The Biden administration is beefing up its border team, with plans to add Department of Homeland Security’s BLAS NUÑEZ-NETO, Axios’ STEF W. KIGHT and ALEX THOMPSON report. As assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at DHS, Nuñez-Neto has been closely involved with border issues, playing a central role in Senate negotiations over the bipartisan border deal.

Nuñez-Neto is expected to join deputy chief of staff NATALIE QUILLAN’s team rather than the Domestic Policy Council or National Security Council.

PERSONNEL MOVES: KAREN SKELTON, a senior adviser at the Department of Energy, is leaving the administration to return to academia after three years at the DOE. The long-time environmental advocate has worked closely with Secretary of Energy JENNIFER GRANHOLM and JOHN PODESTA, who is overseeing the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act's $360 billion in climate action. She'll be taking up residence at Stanford as a visiting professor in the Doerr School of Sustainability.

Granholm, in a statement to West Wing Playbook, said Skelton was "savvy and strategic, fearless and relentless in achieving our clean energy goals. Plus, she is one of the best human beings I have ever known. We at DOE are so lucky to have had her guiding our efforts, and I know she will continue to achieve and amaze in her ongoing fight against climate change.”

— RITER HOOPES has been promoted to be special adviser in the office of the secretary at the Department of Labor, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. He most recently was a special assistant in that office.

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Agenda Setting

DREAM ON: The Biden administration announced a final rule on Friday that would open up Obamacare benefits to tens of thousands of DACA recipients, our MEGAN MESSERLY reports. Federal health officials estimate that the new rule will affect roughly 100,000 DACA recipients who were brought to the United States as children but do not qualify for government health insurance because they lack legal status.

The rule will allow migrants to sign up for subsidized plans through the health insurance marketplace over the next year, with the open enrollment period beginning on Nov. 1.

A BLUNT ASSESSMENT: Education Secretary MIGUEL CARDONA condemned recent incidents of antisemitism at campus protests, calling it “abhorrent,” CNN’s BETSY KLEIN reports. In a letter sent to college and university presidents on Friday, Cardona offered a firmer evaluation from the administration, expressing his concern over the “sharp rise in reports of antisemitism targeting Jewish students on some college campuses.”

What We're Reading

Why Late Night Shows Won't Roast Joe Biden (POLITICO’s Calder McHugh)

Don’t Both-Sides This One, Joe (The Atlantic’s David Frum)

Rep. Henry Cuellar accused of taking bribes from Azerbaijan, Mexican bank (WaPo’s Perry Stein and Marianna Sotomayor)

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POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

Before ABE LINCOLN became our 16th president, he opened a shop called “Berry and Lincoln” with his friend WILLIAM F. BERRY in New Salem, Illinois. Half pints of French Brandy were 25 cents and gin was 12.5 cents. Wine put you back a quarter, rum was 18.75 cents and whiskey was 12.5 cents. They also sold breakfast and dinner for a quarter each.

And for happy hour, you could get a beer and whiskey shot for a nickel!

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Sam Stein and Emily Cadei.

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