College administrators need to take control of their campus activists take the freedom of speech into antisemitic hate speech that could prove dangerous, according to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Sunday.
"The First Amendment is important, but it doesn't give you the ability to claim there's a fire going on in a theater, because it threatens everyone else," McConnell told CBS News' "Face the Nation."
"What needs to happen, at least at the beginning, is these university presidents need to get control of the situation, allow free speech, and push back against antisemitism.
"I thought that was largely gone in this country, but we've seen a number of young people who are actually antisemitic. Why don't they all sit down and have a civil conversation rather than trying to dominate the talk? And I think the first line of defense is these university presidents."
Calling in the National Guard for riot control is unnecessary if the college administrators would just "get control" of the uprisings first, McConnell added.
"Let's see if these university presidents can get control of the situation," he continued. "They ought to be able to do that. Civil discussion is what college education is supposed to be about. I'd be interested in hearing the antisemitic people explain the justification for that kind of talk.
"These college campuses ought to be controlled by the administrations."