Young people are deeply critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, as some students participate in pro-Palestinian protests on campuses across the country.
But two new focus groups of politically independent Wisconsin students highlighted a key distinction that’s also evident in public polling: Few participants think the question could actually change their vote for president this fall, although some wonder if this would push them to vote. not vote at all. And they almost unanimously believe that former President Donald Trump would do no better (or even worse) on this issue than President Joe Biden.
Interviews with a total of 16 University of Wisconsin system students highlighted the intensity of support for the protests among these potential voters, as well as a sense of relative apathy toward politics in general . Many are considering supporting third-party or independent candidates, as they have soured on both Biden and Trump.
“I don’t think Biden is doing a great job; I don’t think Trump would do a better job,” said Cooper M., a 19-year-old University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student who currently supports Biden.
“As things stand, I don’t see this changing the way I vote.”
More than half of participants — interviewed as part of the NBC News Deciders Focus Group series in collaboration with Engaged, Syracuse University And Sago – named the war as the current topic that worried them the most. Almost all participants showed some degree of support for the protests, and six of the 16 participants said they were protesting themselves.
“I think it’s completely unfair for students who pay tuition to not have a say in where their money goes,” said Suchita H., a 19-year-old student who supports Biden and attends flagship University of Wisconsin. -Madison campus. There, protesters are calling on the university system to divest from companies that have sold military equipment to Israel, which launched military operations in the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
“On a larger scale, it’s just indiscriminate bombing and war, and the debts just haven’t been equalized on both sides,” Suchita H. continued, criticizing Israel’s conduct in the war.
Sophia K., an 18-year-old UW-Madison student who says she would vote for the Green Party candidate Jill Steindescribed the protests as “educational.”
“The protests are very encouraging to see many young people on these campuses standing up together in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people,” Sophia K. continued.
Students largely saw the protests as a necessary tool to shine a light on their side in the debate over the war between Israel and Hamas and to put pressure on their schools and the White House. Some compared the protests to American student dissent over the Vietnam War, and the majority said they did not think the protests were anti-Semitic.
Only four of them…
