Flashback: Biden Highlights Rise in Islamophobia and Antisemitism Amid Surge in Attacks on Jewish Communities

Amid a surge of violent antisemitic incidents sweeping the nation in 2024, renewed scrutiny has focused on former President Joe Biden’s messaging around hate crimes targeting both Jewish and Muslim communities. In a year marked by tense campus protests, graffiti, harassment, and even fatal attacks against American Jews, Biden’s frequent rhetorical pairing of antisemitism and Islamophobia has drawn the ire of critics who feel it downplays the unique peril currently faced by Jewish Americans.

Following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent escalation of violence in Gaza, President Biden publicly condemned antisemitism in several high-profile speeches. However, he consistently coupled these statements with calls to denounce Islamophobia as well. "We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia," Biden stated in a prime-time White House address days after the conflict began. At a Human Rights Campaign event, he elaborated: "Antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia — they're all connected. Hate toward one group left unanswered opens the door for more hate toward more groups."

Data from the Anti-Defamation League indicate the urgency of the moment. Antisemitic incidents in the United States spiked to 9,354 cases in 2024, a 5% increase over 2023 and a staggering 926% jump since the organization began tracking such data in 1979. This escalation became especially visible on college campuses, where Jewish students reported unprecedented levels of intimidation. At Columbia University, protests became so volatile that Jewish students were warned to leave campus for their own safety, while similar turmoil was reported at UCLA, Harvard, and Yale as pro-Palestinian encampments and demonstrations demanded institutional divestment from Israel.

As the protests intensified, Biden again condemned both antisemitism and Islamophobia, saying in May 2024, "There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans." The president’s refusal to single out antisemitism provoked criticism from conservative commentators and Jewish advocacy groups, who argued the administration was indulging in "both-sideisms" at a time when, as one observer stated, "only the Jewish students are being violated."

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has signaled a harsher crackdown on antisemitic acts and campus unrest. In January, President Trump signed an executive order enacting additional measures to combat anti-Semitism, vowing to withhold federal funding from universities tolerating violent protests and pressing for the investigation of protest leaders’ immigration statuses. These moves come in response to headline-grabbing incidents, including a deadly shooting of a Jewish couple outside the Washington, D.C., Jewish museum last month, and a terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, where an Egyptian national allegedly attacked a pro-Israel gathering with Molotov cocktails, reportedly expressing a desire to "kill all Zionist people."

Other high-profile acts of antisemitic violence have included an arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor’s residence during Passover while the Jewish governor and his family slept inside. Such episodes have heightened concerns within the Jewish community and prompted calls for urgent government action. In stark contrast to Biden’s broader anti-hate framing, Trump’s supporters argue their approach is more direct and appropriately focused, citing new executive measures and DOJ crackdowns as evidence of a tougher stance.

Simultaneously, the Biden administration has announced the launch of a national strategy to address Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, seeking to assure those communities their safety is a priority as well. However, detractors continue to assert that, given the scale and intensity of antisemitic hatred currently unfolding across the United States, the administration’s messaging and response have lacked clarity and resolve specifically where Jewish Americans are concerned.

As the nation grapples with deep-seated divisions over the Israel-Gaza conflict and its domestic reverberations, the debate over how best to protect vulnerable communities — and how leaders speak about these threats — remains fiercely contested. With both antisemitic and anti-Muslim incidents on the rise, the effectiveness of competing policy approaches and political rhetoric will remain under close watch in the months ahead.