Now that President Donald Trump has pulled her nomination to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is back to putting higher-education institutions on notice over their responses to displays of anti-Semitism on campus. She even predicted that yet another university president will soon be forced to step aside.
During a Fox News interview on “Sunday Morning Futures,” host Maria Bartiromo asked Stefanik for a response to another Columbia University president resigning and President Donald Trump threatening to stop federal funding for schools and universities “that allow illegal protests” on their campuses.
“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,” Stefanik said.
“The decision to withhold federal funding from Columbia, that’s what the American people wanted,” she added. “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.”
During a 2023 hearing following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the presidents of prestigious universities dodged on Stefanik’s question of whether calling for the genocide of Jews on campuses violated their schools’ policies on bullying and harassment. Columbia University’s newest interim president, Claire Shipman, referred to congressional hearings over antisemitism on college campuses as “Capitol Hill nonsense,” as shown in a House Committee on Education and the Workforce report.
“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,” Stefanik told Bartiromo. “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.”
She added: “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.”
Pressed to respond to Shipman’s dismissal of the congressional hearings on anti-Semitism on college campuses, Stefanik went on to say, “It’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.”
Stefanik said Trump is “revoking the visas for the pro-Hamas, foreign agitators and anti-Semites on campus” and “withholding those federal dollars. 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.”
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Now that President Donald Trump has pulled her nomination to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is back to putting higher-education institutions on notice over their responses to displays of anti-Semitism on campus. She even predicted that yet another university president will soon be forced to step aside.
During a Fox News interview on “Sunday Morning Futures,” host Maria Bartiromo asked Stefanik for a response to another Columbia University president resigning and President Donald Trump threatening to stop federal funding for schools and universities “that allow illegal protests” on their campuses.
“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,” Stefanik said.
“The decision to withhold federal funding from Columbia, that’s what the American people wanted,” she added. “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.”
During a 2023 hearing following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the presidents of prestigious universities dodged on Stefanik’s question of whether calling for the genocide of Jews on campuses violated their schools’ policies on bullying and harassment. Columbia University’s newest interim president, Claire Shipman, referred to congressional hearings over antisemitism on college campuses as “Capitol Hill nonsense,” as shown in a House Committee on Education and the Workforce report.
“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,” Stefanik told Bartiromo. “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.”
She added: “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.”
Pressed to respond to Shipman’s dismissal of the congressional hearings on anti-Semitism on college campuses, Stefanik went on to say, “It’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.”
Stefanik said Trump is “revoking the visas for the pro-Hamas, foreign agitators and anti-Semites on campus” and “withholding those federal dollars. 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.”
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