2016 Presidential Candidates Split on Mizzou, Yale Protests

—Franklin, NH -- As racial tensions bubble at some college campuses across the country, the presidential candidates are being asked to weigh in, offering insight into their thoughts of race and discrimination in this country.

After speaking to a VFW lodge in a small New Hampshire town, Republican candidate Jeb Bush was asked about the recent incidents at Yale and the University of Missouri, in which students say that faculty members were unresponsive or slow to respond to their concerns of acts of racism on campus.

“I think people need to be sensitive to overt examples of racism,” Bush said. He added that "there ought to be a climate where’s there’s tolerance and free speech.”

He was referring to Melissa Click, an assistant professor of mass media at Mizzou, who was filmed grabbing a student reporter’s camera and calling for “muscle” to eject him from the premises. Some of the protesters were also trying to prevent the reporter from doing his job. Click has since resigned her courtesy appointment and apologized to the journalists.

At the University of Missouri, several incidents of alleged racism were brought to the attention of the university and no action was taken, leading to a protest movement and an outcry. The school's President Tim Wolfe and the school’s chancellor stepped aside.

At Yale, a residential “master” earned national condemnation after he and his wife failed to denounce outright racially offensive Halloween costumes, arguing instead that the university should promote an environment that fosters open discourse, free from censure, and that there should be room for students to be "a little bit obnoxious … a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?”

Candidates appeared to be split over the events.

Donald Trump called the protests, "disgusting." "I think the two people that resigned are weak, ineffective people,” he added. Others on the Republican side, like Bush, have voiced their support for free speech protections.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blamed President Obama’s "own unwillingness and inability to bring people together.”

On the Democratic side, however, the candidates appear more empathetic with protesters, seizing the opportunity to connect with black voters, a bloc that has historically been elusive for the Republican party.

Hillary Clinton retweeted a staffer’s tweet that read, "Racism has no place anywhere, let alone an institution of learning. Standing w/ the students at Mizzou in my home state calling for change."

Bernie Sanders also tweeted his support.

Bush would only talk about free speech when confronted with the argument, made by some activists, that presenting those issues when asked about campus protests is a tactic to avoid discussing matter of race head-on.

"In the case of Missouri, [the] reporter was just trying to cover the news, and I’m sure everybody in this room would prefer to make sure that they have access of covering the news. And that was restricted because of this new speech talk, I forget what it’s called --like safe space, or something like that, c’mon.”

A “safe space” in the form of a tent city was set up by the protesters at Mizzou. A twitter account associated with the activists asked for “no media in the parameters so the place where people live, fellowship, and sleep can be protected from twisted insincere narratives.”

In a broader sense, safe spaces refer to the idea that students should feel comfortable at their university, the locale that serves as their home. This concept lies at the crux of the activists’ argument.

Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just "star" this story in ABC News' phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.