Biden applauds Morehouse valedictorian’s speech calling for Gaza ceasefire

US President Joe Biden told students at the former university of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr on Sunday that he heard their voices concerning the protests against the war in Gaza, an issue that has roiled US campuses.
As one student stood with his back to Biden during the graduation ceremony at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, the president added that he was working around the clock for an immediate ceasefire and lasting regional peace.
Biden was delivering a commencement address during Morehouse College's graduation ceremony on 19 May 2024.
Student protests, which have engulfed a string of US campuses, have caused political troubles for Biden in an election year in which he is set for a rematch with Republican former president Donald Trump.
"I support peaceful, non-violent protest. Your voices should be heard, and I promise you I hear them," Biden told the ceremony.
Biden said he wanted an "immediate ceasefire to stop the fighting, bring the hostages home", as Israel’s war on Gaza rages.
Biden had earlier applauded as the college's valedictorian, DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher, also called for an immediate ceasefire in his own speech.
The speech at the alma mater of rights hero King was part of a series of Biden events this week aimed at winning over Black voters, amid polls showing that their support for him is flagging.
But there had also been concerns that Gaza protests would disrupt the ceremony, his most direct engagement with students since the demonstrations erupted.
Some students at Morehouse had called for Biden's speech to be cancelled and a senior White House official reportedly recently met students and faculty members beforehand.
Biden initially stayed silent on the Gaza protests, but later said that "order must prevail" after police broke up several university encampments around the US.
Biden's problems with voters over Gaza mirror wider issues he has with Black and younger voters, two groups that helped him beat Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
A New York Times/Siena poll last week showed that, in addition to trailing Trump in several key battleground states, Biden is also losing ground with African Americans.
Trump is winning more than 20 percent of Black voters in the poll, which would be the highest level of Black support for a Republican presidential candidate since the Civil Rights Act was enacted in 1964, The New York Times said.
Several other polls have also shown Biden's support lagging among Black voters.
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