Former President Donald Trump criticized President Biden on Tuesday, placing blame on him for the recent surge in antisemitic incidents occurring at universities across the country, including Columbia University and New York University. Trump's remarks were made as he entered a Manhattan courtroom for his hush money trial.

Expressing his disappointment, the 45th president criticized Biden's handling of the situation, stating, "What's going on at the college level and the colleges, Columbia, NYU, and others, is a disgrace. And it's really on Biden, he has sent the wrong signal. He's got the wrong tone. He's got the wrong words. He doesn't know who he's backing, and it's a mess. What's going on is a disgrace, and it's all Biden's fault."

The Ivy League school has been plagued by anti-Israel demonstrations since April 17, which led to the cancellation of in-person classes on Monday. In response to the escalating situation, Columbia University announced on Tuesday that it would transition to a hybrid model for the remainder of the spring semester.

Amid these troubling events, Columbia campus rabbi Elie Buechler warned Jewish students via WhatsApp about "extreme antisemitism" and urged them to leave due to heightened safety concerns.

President Biden broke his silence on the matter and attempted to adopt a balanced approach in addressing the issue. He stated, while condemning the antisemitic protests, "That's why I have set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians."

However, Biden's comments, resembling Trump's criticized rhetoric after the 2017 Charlottesville incident, received backlash from conservatives. Federalist editor-in-chief Molly Hemingway tweeted, "President Biden says there are good people on both sides of October 7. I've heard many outrageous moral equivalences while working on the Israeli-Palestinian file. This one takes the cake. Shame on him for this comment."

Further criticism came from former White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, who expressed disapproval of Biden's statements. Additionally, Abigail Jackson, communications director for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), accused Biden of replicating the "very fine people" hoax that was instrumental in his presidential campaign.

Biden has faced internal party opposition over his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict, with many Democratic primary voters marking themselves as "uncommitted" to protest his actions. Trump weighed in on the situation, stating, "He's no friend of Israel, that's for sure. And he's no friend of the Arab world either. He doesn't know what to do. He wants to take a middle ground, and oftentimes that doesn't work."

Trump also voiced his dissatisfaction with the heavy police presence surrounding his ongoing legal proceedings.

At the time of reporting, there was no immediate response from the Biden campaign regarding Trump's accusations.