Former President Donald Trump downplayed a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left a young woman dead in comments outside a New York courtroom this afternoon following proceedings in his hush money trial.

Taking aim at President Joe Biden over protests related to the Israel-Hamas war, Trump said "Charlottesville was a little peanut" by comparison.

It "was nothing," Trump said of the Charlottesville rally. "This is tremendous hate, and we have a man that can’t talk about it because he doesn’t understand it."

Biden has often referred to Charlottesville as a key reason he decided to run for president in 2020. Trump's remarks today echoed comments he made on Truth Social yesterday, when he wrote, "Charlottesville is like a 'peanut' compared to the riots and anti-Israel protests that are happening" nationwide.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates blasted Trump's remark in a statement.

"Minimizing the Antisemitic and white supremacist poison displayed in Charlottesville is repugnant and divisive," Bates said. "That moment compelled President Biden to run in 2020, because he has fought Antisemitism and hate his entire life."

In addition to a cease-fire in Gaza, protesters on college campuses across the country are calling on their schools to divest from all financial support of Israel.

Divestment usually refers to selling shares in companies doing business with a given country. Divestment has long been a goal of a movement that seeks to limit what it considers hostile operations by Israel and an end to expanding what the United Nations has ruled are illegal settlements.

Now, college protesters hope to force their universities to divest to put financial pressure on companies doing business in Israel to meet those two objectives.

Read the full story here.

Twenty-eight people were arrested while objects were thrown at police who used chemical irritants for crowd control today during a protest at Emory University in Atlanta, a school official said.

Shortly before 8 a.m., dozens of protesters pushed past police on the campus quad and set up tents where equipment and materials were in place for commencement, Cheryl Elliott, the college’s vice president for public safety, wrote in a letter to the university community tonight.

Of those arrested, 20 were “Emory community members,” Elliott said.

Emory police issued warnings, and when the police orders were ignored, Atlanta police and officers with the Georgia State Patrol assisted with crowd control and detaining protesters, Elliott said.

“During this process and the subsequent confrontations, objects were thrown at police officers,” Elliott said, adding that an officer who was not with Emory police may have used a stun gun on a protester.

Police also used other tactics, Elliott said, to gain control of the crowd.

“Due to the direct assault of officers, law enforcement released chemical irritants into the ground to assist with crowd control,” Elliott said.

The university's goal, Elliott said, was to clear the quad “of a disruptive encampment while holding individuals accountable to the law.”

Northwestern University did not give a specific timeline today when it was asked when it will remove tents as a part of pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

The university said it is in "active discussions with the demonstrators to ensure the safety of members of the Northwestern community while also providing a space for free expression."

Earlier today, a spokesperson for the university said, "Students who refuse to remove their tents will be subject to arrest and their tents will be removed by the University."

The university president announced interim rule changes to the student handbook this morning, which include a ban on installing tents on university property that aren’t approved.

The school said tents near The Rock, a monument on campus that people can decorate, would be allowed to remain, as students have to "guard" The Rock for 24 hours to paint it with messages and typically sleep in tents to do so.

Since Columbia University launched its encampment and protests last week in solidarity with Gaza, NBC News has counted 40 universities and colleges that have followed suit, launching encampments on campuses in the U.S. and Canada.

Columbia University said that discussions between the school and student protesters are "ongoing" and that a group of faculty members, administrators and university senators have "been in dialogue with student organizers" for "several days."

The two sides have discussed "the basis for dismantling the encampment, dispersing, and following University policies going forward," the university said.

"We have our demands; they have theirs," Columbia said in an update posted today, adding that a "formal process is underway and continues."

"As President Shafik has said, we very much hope these discussions are successful. If they are not, we will have to consider options for restoring calm to campus," it said.

WASHINGTON — Organizers at the protest rally at George Washington University were directing students to move to the center of the encampment and outside community members to form a perimeter around them.

Protesters had until 7 p.m. to disperse and break down their tents, but the deadline came and went with no sign of campus or police action. The rally is ongoing, and the crowd appears to have grown.

Ahead of the deadline, the university and its police department said there were no changes in plans and no negotiations to allow the protesters to continue their encampment.

Earlier today, the university said it had requested the assistance of Washington police to “relocate” the protesters after they did not heed instructions to move to another site on campus.

In a statement tonight after the deadline, the university said that the encampment was “an unauthorized use of university space and violates several university policies” and that it was working with police to determine “how to best address the situation.”

Students at the University of Florida have set up their own liberation zone in solidarity with Gaza and other universities across the country.

UF Divestment Coalition, which describes itself on Instagram as students calling for the school "to protect students and end complicity in the ongoing occupation of Palestine and genocide in Gaza," posted today encouraging students to join the encampment at UF Plaza of the Americas that was set up last night and maintained overnight.

The group said it "successfully maintained occupation of the grounds in Plaza of Americas through the night, and activities will continue today."

"This is our space," the group wrote on Instagram. It encouraged students to bring water and snacks, laptops to study for exams and chairs and mats.

It said yesterday it launched the encampment "to express our concerns with the institution’s repression of student voices and unfair discrimination, as well as to demand divestment."

UCLA said today about the Royce Quad encampment protest: “We’re actively monitoring this situation to support a safe and peaceful campus environment that respects our community’s right to free expression while minimizing disruption to our teaching and learning mission. “

Access to Royce Hall and Powell was restricted, and Bruin Cards are required for entry. 

Classes and campus actives will continue as usual, the school said.