Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Newsmax on Wednesday that lawmakers and donors need to pull the funding from colleges and universities that fail to quell rampant antisemitism on their campuses.
"We do have a number of measures here in the United States Senate and across Congress that would battle antisemitism and push back on the funding that comes from the federal government going to these institutions if they don't honor Title VI of the Civil Rights Act," Ernst said during an appearance on "Wake Up America." "So, we've got to start cracking down … on these universities and institutions that allow these types of sentiments to run rampant. Again, free speech is fine, but when it turns into threats, when it turns into violence, those students, the faculty members that are cheering this on and those universities need to be held accountable."
"Why should our taxpayers be funding this type of activity at these institutions?" she continued. "It needs to stop. But what else needs to stop? The donors that are giving to these institutions. They need to step up and say, 'Right is right, wrong is wrong.' This is wrong, and they need to pull their funding. Only when these institutions feel the hurt in their pocketbook will they actually pay attention to the needs and the rights of every student to be able to go to class and to receive an education."
Ernst said that she has "no idea how and why" the leaders of the colleges and universities where anti-Israel protests have broken out in recent weeks have "allowed" such demonstrations to take place.
"This is on their hands," she said. "And parents, I'm sorry, you have evidently coddled your children and sent them off to these elite universities and didn't teach them right from wrong. We have this strong antisemitic view that is rampant across the United States, and it's absolutely unacceptable."
The Iowa senator stressed that she's "grateful to be from the Midwest," where, she said, "we appreciate students and their rights, but we'll hold them accountable when they do break the law."
The leadership at Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa encourages "free speech and peaceful protests," Ernst said, but "won't tolerate" breaking the law.
"What we see going on at Columbia, what we see going on at UCLA, this is abhorrent and these children — because they are acting like children — they need to be held accountable to the full length of the law," she said.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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