LARRY KUDLOW: A moral and political cancer of antisemitism is metastasizing throughout our colleges
A moral and political cancer of antisemitism is metastasizing throughout so many of our colleges and universities, unleashing all manner of campus conflict and violence.
Joe Biden is turning a blind eye. And Donald Trump has a plan to solve it. Mr. Biden says, "I condemn the antisemitic protests" -- but then adds quickly, "I also condemn those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians."
That's a complete cop-out. That is not even remotely a solution to the education breakdown in American higher learning. No one in politics has worked harder than Joe Biden in spreading the gospel of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
But it is precisely the ultra-left gospel of DEI that has spawned this new wave of antisemitism. Mr. Biden won't change a thing. Mr. Trump will.
The former president wants to remove DEI from the federal bureaucracy writ large, especially the far-left federal Education Department. Mr. Trump also wants to use new accreditation standards that harken back to traditional American and western civilization and culture.
In his video on Truth Social, he said, "When I return to the White House, I will fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominated by Marxist maniacs and lunatics."
Mr. Trump would also tax endowments for non-compliance. He would also explore having colleges and universities "fined up to the entire amount of their endowment."
He will insist on a merit-based system to replace DEI. And he will also "direct the Department of Justice to pursue federal civil rights cases" against colleges and universities that "continue to engage in racial discrimination."
ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS SURGES AS AGITATORS TAKE OVER
Enforcing civil rights laws against discrimination is absolutely crucial here. Joe Biden never refers to this. But Jason Riley reminds us in his Wall Street Journal column that the current campus violence and conflict not only trespasses, blocks traffic, refusing police orders, and generally causing disorder and disturbance -- but it is illegal.
And he goes on to cite former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who sent in federal troops to stop the white mobs in Little Rock, Arkansas who were preventing black students from safely attending school, in defiance of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision.
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I quote Mr. Riley directly: "The federal government was obligated to come to the aid of an ethnic minority group being threatened by mob violence. Jews in 2024 deserve no less protection than blacks in 1957."
I couldn't agree more.
This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the April 24, 2024, edition of "Kudlow."