Stefanik looks back to fiery exchanges with college leaders in Senate confirmation hearing: ‘watershed moment’
New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik She touted her fiery questioning of college administrators on Tuesday when she appeared before Senate lawmakers as part of her confirmation process to serve as U.N. ambassador, saying it was a “watershed moment” that exposed the “rot of anti-Semitism” in American colleges.
“My oversight work has led to the most-watched testimony in history, in the history of Congress. This hearing with university presidents around the world has been heard and viewed billions of times because it unveiled The rot of anti-Semitism “This was a watershed moment in American higher education,” Stefanik said Tuesday while speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Since 2023, Stefanik has served as a conservative figure who has repeatedly questioned “morally bankrupt” university leaders over their handling of anti-Semitism on campus following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
During last year’s university academic year, agitators and student protesters invaded college campuses across the country to protest the war in Israel, which also included rising cases of anti-Semitism and Jewish students spoke out publicly that they did not feel safe on some campuses.
Representative Elise Stefanik listens during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Notably, Stefanik questioned administrators of an Ivy League college from Pennsylvania and Harvard University, her alma mater, in December 2023 about whether “advocating the genocide of Jews” violated the code of conduct of the school in question. But school leaders were flawed in their responses.
“It could be, depending on the context,” responded Claudine Jay, then-president of Harvard University, when asked whether “advocating the genocide of the Jews” violated the school’s code of conduct.
“When anti-Semitic rhetoric devolves into behavior that rises to the level of bullying, harassment, intimidation — that is actionable behavior, and we are taking action,” Jay said when pressed to answer “yes” or “no” if calls for the genocide of Jews emerged. School rules.
During the anti-Semitism hearing, Liz Magill (center), Claudine Guy (left), and Sally Kornbluth (right) gave “evasive” answers when asked by Rep. Elise Stefanik if calls for the genocide of Jews violated their organization’s policies on bullying and abuse. harassment. (Kevin Deitch/Getty Images)
Both Jay and then-Pennsylvania Liz Magill resigned from their high-ranking positions shortly after the hearing, while footage of the exchange spread like wildfire on social media.
What Stefanik’s tenure at home reveals about the kind of UN ambassador she might be
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., speaks at a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on “Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University’s Response to Anti-Semitism” on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (AFP/Maryam Zohaib)
President Donald Trump Stefanik was nominated to serve as ambassador to the United Nations last November, and was celebrated as “an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter.”
Stefanik said in her opening remarks on Tuesday that Trump sees “great promise” for the United Nations if it returns to its roots of promoting peace around the world.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
She added: “In discussing this nomination with President Trump, the President told me that he sees great promise in the United Nations if it focuses on its founding mission of international peace and security. President Trump has long called for peace, not new wars.” He said.
