During the fourth Republican presidential primary debate, Nikki Haley, former U.N. Ambassador, strongly criticized the heads of some of the United States’ most notable universities for their lack of response to anti-Semitic sentiments being expressed on their campuses. The debate took place in Alabama and was organized by NewsNation.
Eliana Johnson, co-moderator, initiated the topic by bringing up a recent incident where university presidents were questioned about whether advocating for the extermination of Jews would infringe upon school policies aimed at preventing harassment and intimidation. The response from the university leaders was that it would depend on the context, including whether such speech crossed over into action.
Johnson then asked Haley for her opinion on how educational institutions and society at large should strike a balance between upholding the principle of free speech and curbing the efforts of radical activists to harass and intimidate others.
Haley expressed her disgust at the incidents and equated them to hypothetical protests by the KKK on college campuses. She condemned the university presidents for their lack of action against pro-Hamas protests and their failure to categorically denounce calls for genocide against Jews.
Haley proposed a three-fold approach to address this issue. Firstly, she called for the removal of foreign funding from American universities. She highlighted the influence of Arab and Chinese money, suggesting that universities should be made to choose between accepting foreign funds or American money.
Secondly, Haley criticized President Biden’s decision to exclude anti-Zionism from the definition of anti-Semitism. She stated that denying Israel’s right to exist is inherently anti-Semitic and advocated for a change in the definition that all governments and schools must acknowledge.
Lastly, Haley proposed a ban on TikTok, citing a correlation between time spent on the platform and increased anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas sentiments. She noted that half of adults aged 18 to 25 believe that Hamas’s actions against Israel were justified.
Haley concluded her argument by calling for universities to take more responsibility in protecting their students from such incidents. She suggested that the government should threaten to remove the tax-exempt status of universities that fail to address anti-Semitism on their campuses.
Tackling antisemitism at colleges, Nikki Haley ripped into college presidents turning a blind eye to the hate on campus. pic.twitter.com/CYTOwObCtV
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) December 7, 2023
