Senators Wary of Sending National Guard to Quell Campus Protests

U.S. senators dismissed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s suggestion to send the National Guard to college campuses to quell growing protests against the war in Gaza and U.S. support for Israel.

“I don’t know if you need to call in the National Guard, maybe you just call in the police,” said Senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican and one of several lawmakers from both parties expressing reservations. Vance spoke on "Fox News Sunday."

Sending the National Guard to campuses would evoke painful memories of the violent era of campus protest against the Vietnam War, specifically at Kent State University, Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, said on NBC’s "Meet the Press."

In 1970, the National Guard shot into a group of protesters at Ohio’s Kent State, killing four students.

“I think that would be a very, very bad idea,” Kaine said of deploying the National Guard. There are ways to manage the protests using campus security, Kaine said, and also by “offering students more opportunities to have dialogue that is civil and constructive where people hear one another.”