World
Senate races are roiled by campus protests over the war in Gaza as campaign rhetoric sharpens
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The student protest movement disrupting university campuses, classes and graduation ceremonies over the war in Gaza is also roiling Senate contests across the nation as Democrats tread cautiously over an internal divide and Republicans play up their rivals’ disagreements.
The political impact of the protests on the White House campaign has drawn considerable attention, with opposition to President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war reverberating from Columbia to UCLA. The fast-evolving landscape of the demonstrations is shaping pivotal Senate races, too.
Tent encampments have popped up at universities in many states where Democrats this election year are defending seats essential to maintaining the party’s razor-thin Senate majority. At some schools, police crackdowns and arrests have followed.
The protests have sharpened the campaign rhetoric in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Ohio and Michigan, among other places. Republican candidates in California and Florida have stepped up their criticism of the Democratic president for the U.S. response to the war or for chaotic scenes on American campuses.
Some Republicans have shown up at encampments, including one at George Washington University, not far from the White House. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is facing reelection, said on social media that he went there to show solidarity with Jewish students. “We need to do all we can to protect them,” he said.
Republican candidate David McCormick, during a visit to the University of Pennsylvania, said protesters at the Ivy League school did not know the “difference between right and wrong, good and evil,” and were creating a hostile atmosphere for Jewish students.
McCormick has decried what he frames as a lack of leadership and moral clarity on the part of his Democratic opponent, Sen. Bob Casey, as well as by Biden and administrators at the school buffeted by accusations of harboring antisemitism.
“What’s happening on campuses is clearly a test of leadership and moral courage, both for the college presidents and for our leaders and for Sen. Casey and President Biden,” McCormick said in an interview.
Israel and its supporters say the protests are antisemitic, a charge that Israel’s critics say is sometimes used to silence legitimate opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at trying to save the lives of Palestinians civilians.
Many Democrats, from Biden on down, avoided saying much about the situation until recently as universities began to crack down and comparisons were made to anti-war protests of the 1960s.
Even then, Democrats balanced their criticism of antisemitism and rule-breakers with the need to protect the right to free expression and peaceful protest. Some have tried to avoid taking sides in protests that have pitted pro-Israeli versus pro-Palestinian Democrats and divided important parts of the party’s base, including Jewish, Arab American and younger voters.
Republicans, meanwhile, have railed at what they characterized as equivocating or silence by Democrats. Republicans professed solidarity with Jews against antisemitism while condemning the protests as lawless.
Mike Rogers, a Republican seeking an open Senate seat in Michigan, said student protesters at Columbia were “Hamas sympathizers.” In California, GOP Senate candidate Steve Garvey called them “terrorists” practicing “terrorism disguised as free speech.”
In five states, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, is using the protests in digital ads about student loan forgiveness, saying Democrats want to pay off the loans of students “radicalized by the far left” who are “threatening Jews,” “attacking police” and “acting like terrorists.”
McCormick and others say universities that, in their view, tolerate antisemitism should lose federal subsidies and that visas should be revoked for any foreign student inciting violence or expressing pro-Hamas sentiments at the encampments.
Casey, long a staunch supporter of Israel, has criticized acts of antisemitism on campuses and pointed to legislation he sponsored as a way to make sure the Education Department takes action.
“Students of course have the right to peacefully protest, but when it crosses the line either into violence or discrimination, then we have an obligation to step in and stop that conduct,” Casey said Thursday as he urged colleagues to pass his bill.
Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who is Jewish and facing reelection, said she was “horrified” by displays of antisemitism on campuses and, like Casey, called for the department to hold schools accountable.
In California, U.S. Rep Adam Schiff, the Democratic nominee for an open Senate seat, took aim at the Columbia demonstration and said “antisemitic and hateful rhetoric is being loudly and proudly displayed.” Accused by Garvey of being “incredibly silent” on the protests, Schiff, who is Jewish, voted for a House bill similar to Casey’s and released a statement that condemned violence and the “explicit, repeated targeting and intimidation of Jewish students.”
Republicans elsewhere contended statements by Democrats were equivocating and inadequate.
Republicans called out Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, after he told an Axios reporter last week that he was “not going to talk about the politics of that. People always have the right to speak out and should.”
His Republican opponent, Bernie Moreno, charged that Brown had “wholeheartedly endorsed these vile and violent antisemitic demonstrations.”
Later, at a news conference, Brown gave more expansive comments. “Students want to make their voices heard, they need to do it in a way that’s nonviolent, they need to do it in a way that doesn’t spew hatred, and laws need to be enforced,” he said.
In Michigan, which has a relatively significant Muslim population, Biden’s handling of the war is expected to factor heavily into the presidential and Senate races.
Rogers, a favorite for the GOP nomination, thanked New York City police for confronting protesters and “standing up to protect Jewish students at Columbia from the visceral hatred we’ve witnessed from Hamas sympathizers on their campus.”
Republicans argued that U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the front-runner for the Democratic nominationfor Senate, had not spoken out strongly against protests at Columbia, her alma mater, and that she took five days after they began to say anything at all.
Slotkin, who is Jewish, said in an April 22 statement — the most recent wave of demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 — that “the use of intimidation, antisemitic signs or slogans, or harassment, is unacceptable.”
It was, she suggested, a complicated topic.
“I would rather be thoughtful and take more time than have a knee-jerk answer for any issue,” Slotkin said in an interview. “But especially this one.”
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Associated Press reporters Adam Beam in Sacramento, California; Joey Cappalletti in Lansing, Michigan; Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey; Tassanee Vejpongsa in Philadelphia; and Stephany Matat in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) — a U.S.-backed group that has Israel’s stamp of approval — said it has started distributing aid to the Gaza Strip despite being the subject of controversy and questions.
GHF did not specify how many trucks of food it was dealing with but said that the supplies made it to its hubs and were being distributed throughout the Strip. The organization also said there would be more trucks arriving on Wednesday.
“As part of the ongoing efforts to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, four aid distribution centers were established in recent weeks, in accordance with the directive of the political echelon and in close coordination with the United States,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Gazans are seen going to and from an aid collection spot. (Amit Segal)
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“Every day, thousands of Gazans will be able to come here, reach this third party and get the aid directly. We hope this will end Hamas’ abuse of the aid coming into Gaza, Hamas’s abuse of the people of Gaza, and that the people of Gaza will be able to receive the aid directly,” IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said in a video about the aid.
The organization received considerable scrutiny before its distribution began, as well as a potentially major hurdle: just hours before it started distributing aid, the head of the organization resigned.
Jake Woods, who was the executive director of the GHF, resigned on Monday, citing the organization’s inability to “adhere to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.”
“I urge Israel to significantly expand the provision of aid into Gaza through all mechanisms, and I urge all stakeholders to continue to explore innovative new methods for the delivery of aid, without delay, diversion, or discrimination,” Woods said in a statement obtained by Fox News. “I continue to believe the only sustainable path for the long-term is for Hamas to release all hostages, for there to be a cessation of hostilities, and a pathway for peace, security, and dignity for all people in the region.”
Humanitarian aid to be distributed to the people of Gaza. (IDF Spokesperson’s Office)
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Prior to Woods’ resignation, GHF faced criticism over its distribution plan, which involved the aid arriving at hubs that are guarded by armed contractors, according to The Associated Press. The outlet also reported that the four hubs being set up are all close to Israeli military positions, saying that three are “far south where few Palestinians are located.”
The Associated Press reported that GHF said the flow of supplies to Palestinians in Gaza would be “increasing each day.”
Woods is not alone in his concern about GHF’s independence and impartiality, as the organization has faced backlash over Israel’s support for the organization. The United Nations and aid groups have voiced criticism of GHF.
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip on Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A spokesperson from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told Reuters that GHF is “a distraction from what is actually needed.”
“Our position remains firm: as Tom Fletcher, the under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, told the Security Council the other week, this is a distraction. Aid operations must be in line with the humanitarian principles and must be scaled up to stave off famine and meet the needs of all civilians, where they are in the Strip,” OCHA spokesperson Eri Kaneko told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and the Red Cross for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
Trey Yingst contributed to this report.
Russia and Ukraine have launched a wave of drone attacks against each other overnight, even as Moscow claimed it was finalising a peace proposal to end the war.
Ukrainian air force officials said on Tuesday that Russia deployed 60 drones across multiple regions through the night, injuring 10 people. Kyiv’s air defences intercepted 43 of them – 35 were shot down while eight were diverted using electronic warfare systems.
In Dnipropetrovsk, central Ukraine, Governor Serhiy Lysak reported damage to residential properties and an agricultural site after Russian drones led to fires during the night. In Kherson, a southern city frequently hit by Russian strikes, a drone attack on Tuesday morning wounded a 59-year-old man and six municipal workers, officials said.
The barrage came days after Ukraine endured one of the heaviest aerial offensives of the war. On Sunday night alone, Ukraine’s air force claimed Russia launched 355 drones, a record number.
That escalation prompted United States President Donald Trump to declare that Vladimir Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY” and to threaten new sanctions. The Kremlin brushed off the remarks, accusing Trump of suffering from “emotional overload”.
Russia said on Tuesday that its huge aerial assaults in recent days were a “response” to escalating Ukrainian drone attacks on its own civilians, accusing Kyiv of trying to “disrupt” peace efforts.
“Kyiv, with the support of some European countries, has taken a series of provocative steps to thwart negotiations initiated by Russia,” the Russian Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
The ministry said its forces had shot down 99 Ukrainian drones on Tuesday, including 56 over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.
It claimed that from May 20 to 27, air defence units intercepted more than 2,300 Ukrainian drones – 1,465 of them outside active conflict zones.
Russia seizes more territory
In a further setback for Kyiv, Russian troops have captured four villages in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, the local governor confirmed on Tuesday.
Oleh Hryhorov said Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka and Zhuravka were now under Russian control, though civilians had already been evacuated. “The enemy is continuing attempts to advance with the aim of setting up a so-called ‘buffer zone’,” he wrote on Facebook.
Russia’s Defence Ministry also claimed it had taken the nearby village of Bilovody, pointing to further advances near the border.
Though Moscow’s main offensive remains in Donetsk, its push into Sumy shows how Russian forces are stretching Ukraine’s army thin across multiple fronts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned again this week that new Russian offensives were likely in Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.
Russian troops have been attacking in small groups on motorcycles, backed by drones. Ukrainian forces say they’re holding the line and targeting enemy positions with precision fire.
Military blog DeepState reported over the weekend that Russia now holds about 62.6 sq km (24 square miles) in the region – the first time it has secured a strip of border villages there.
Last month, a Russian missile killed 36 people in the city of Sumy.
Europe undermining peace talks, says Russia
Amid new territorial gains and escalating violence, Russia has shifted blame for the lack of diplomatic progress onto European leaders.
Putin met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine, according to a source from Turkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Fidan also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday as part of his two-day trip to Moscow.
During the meeting, Lavrov took aim at German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, suggesting his recent comments on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons for strikes deep inside Russia reveal that the decision to greenlight such attacks was made long before it was made public.
Lavrov said Merz’s statement was telling – not only for what it implied about policy but for what it revealed about the current crop of Western leaders.
“This shows what sort of people have come to power in key European countries,” Lavrov said.
Merz had earlier stated that weapons supplied to Kyiv by the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the US were no longer bound by range restrictions, clearing the path for deeper attacks into Russian territory.
On Tuesday, while on an official visit to Finland, Merz said Western allies had lifted restrictions on the range of weapons sent to Ukraine. He warned the war could drag on, citing Russia’s refusal to engage in meaningful talks. “We may have to prepare for a longer duration,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Moscow accused Ukraine and its European allies of deliberately undermining efforts to revive peace talks. “Since 20 May, Ukraine has ramped up strikes on Russian territory using Western-supplied weapons, deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure,” it said.
Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine resumed on May 16 – the first in more than three years – but failed to result in a ceasefire. Russia has since insisted it is working on a serious draft agreement to end hostilities.
“This is a serious draft, a draft of a serious document that demands careful checks and preparation,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, adding it had not yet been submitted.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the draft would lay out key terms for a political settlement and potential ceasefire, and would be presented to Kyiv once finalised.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of escalating attacks in recent days to derail the negotiations. In response to media reports about possible new US sanctions, Peskov claimed Washington was trying to sabotage the diplomatic process.
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