Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on Thursday weighed in on controversial comments from university leaders on antisemitism and genocide, calling their testimony on Capitol Hill this week “disgusting” and “stunning.”
“To see the lack of willingness of these leaders of what are supposed to be the best educational institutions, not just in the United States, but around the world, unwilling to say very clearly, that calling for the genocide of Jews constitutes harassment,” Cheney told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.” “It is really troubling what we’re seeing on campuses around this country.”
Her comments come days after the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology were pressed by House lawmakers about their responses to alleged incidents of antisemitism on their campuses in the days and weeks following the start of the Israel-Hamas war. During the hearing, the presidents struggled to answer questions about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their respective school’s code of conduct on bullying or harassment.
The presidents of Penn and Harvard have since issued statements attempting to clarify their testimony.
“There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students,” Harvard President Claudine Gay said in the new statement posted on X. “Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”
In a short video released Wednesday night, Penn President Liz Magill echoed Gay’s response and said the university would immediately review and clarify its policies on hate speech.
“I was not…
Read the full article here