Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY, now that she will not be President Trump’s UN Ambassador, is back in Congress working against universities and other educational institutions who do not do enough fight antisemitism.
Stefanik as well predicted another university president’s downfall.
Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo asked Stefanik for her response regarding another Columbia University president’s resignation and about Trump’s threading to defund schools that “allow illegal protests” on campus.
“We have seen six high-profile university presidents resign, two of which are from Columbia, because these university presidents have failed to show moral strong leadership, and President Trump, as he campaigned on, is holding them accountable. The decision to withhold federal funding from Columbia, that’s what the American people wanted. That is what they voted for, because these universities have failed to make sure that they are following their own rules. They have failed to protect Jewish students, and we will continue to highlight and spotlight,” Stefanik said.
The presidents of higher educational institutions dodged Stefanik’s questions, during a hearing following the October 7 Hamas terrorist massacre on Israel, on whether calling for the genocide of Jews on campus violated their schools’ policies on bullying and harassment.
Stefanik had had multiple rounds of questions for the presidents of Columbia, UPenn and MIT. During one of the rounds, Stefanik questioned Harvard’s then-President Claudine Gay about the school receiving funds from foreign entities and governments, as well as its failure to discipline students who practice antisemitism.
“The fact that we’re on the third Columbia University president, and this one, let’s be honest, Maria, is not going to last as well. It’s already come out that she has criticized and belittled the House investigation and the accountability measures and has failed to protect Jewish students. So again, this is strong leadership from President Trump,” Stefanik said. “I’m going to continue to lead this effort in holding higher ed accountable, standing up to be good stewards of U.S. taxpayer dollars, and combating the rot and the scourge of antisemitism in higher ed.”
A House Committee on Education and the Workforce report showed that Columbia University’s newest interim president, Claire Shipman, referred to hearings on campus antisemitism as “Capitol Hill nonsense.”
In response, Stefanik told Bartiromo that “[I]t’s untenable for her to be in this position, and I think it is going to be a matter of weeks before she is forced to step down as well. They still don’t get it. The faculty doesn’t get it. These radical, far-left students don’t get it.”
Trump is revoking the visas for pro-Hamas antisemites and foreign agitators on college campuses and defunding the universities.
“These universities are not entitled to those federal dollars. They have to ensure that they are protecting Jewish students on campus. So again, we are just seeing a failure within higher education. The Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, has done a tremendous job forcing these universities to address this crisis on campus, and we’re going to continue to use our ability on Capitol Hill and our appropriations and our oversight of these higher ed dollars to hold them accountable,” Stefanik said.
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