Democrats lose the 'moral high ground'

Media

By Hannah Banrick, Chris Pandolfo, Fox News

MSNBC host Al Sharpton compared the anti-Israel protests to the events of January 6 on Thursday and said Democrats were losing the “moral high ground” by not calling for demonstrations on college campuses.

MSNBC's “Morning Joe” showed footage of police moving toward the anti-Israel camp at UCLA, with host Joe Scarborough calling on Democrats to speak out against the demonstrations.

“The politics of it, what are they being robbed of by not doing it, Joe, where you and I agree. How do Democrats say, how do all of us on this side say January 6th was wrong, if you can get the same images that “Speak on a college campus, you lose the moral high ground.”

In response, co-host Mika Brzezinski said: “Oh my God, no comparison to January 6th.” “For some reason this is not allowed.”

Brzezinski made the same comparison on “Morning Joe” on Tuesday while responding to footage of the protests.

“This is where we've all been sitting, watching this, wondering: What the hell is going on? What are these universities doing? Why aren't they doing something? And I'll repeat the horror that this looks like January 6th,” she said at the time. A terrible example for our students.”

Sharpton also argued during Thursday's “Morning Joe” that campus protesters have “missed the message” and are making these demonstrations about them, rather than their larger cause.

“Anytime what you're protesting for becomes secondary to what you're doing, you're not actually protesting for it,” Sharpton said. He added that anti-Israel protesters “have become the cause” and have largely moved away from their original message.

“It's about them, it's not about pushing the issue. They have to ask themselves if they're being honest. Are you really focused on what's going on in Gaza, around children, women, innocent people, in Israel? Are you focused on whether you're violent or not, or whether You could say the most controversial statements or not? How do you direct this? “It's about them, and I think they're missing the message,” Sharpton said.

Sharpton said that outside instigators were the reason the protests took a turn for the worse.

Police stormed UCLA's anti-Israel camp after an hours-long standoff with protesters. Local FOX affiliate KTTV reported that officers encountered heavy resistance as they approached the camp.

KTTV reported that protesters attempted to resist by shining bright flashlights in the officers' eyes. Fox News Digital reported that police were seen arresting several people and leading them away with their hands tied behind their backs.