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‘No leadership’: Resurfaced post comes back to haunt Biden after anti-Israel protests sweep the nation

‘No leadership’: Resurfaced post comes back to haunt Biden after anti-Israel protests sweep the nation

A 2020 social media post by then-presidential candidate Joe Biden blaming then-President Trump for violence in the United States is drawing renewed criticism after violence has erupted on college campuses nationwide stemming from anti-Israel protests. “Remember: every example of violence Donald Trump decries has happened on his watch,” Biden posted on Twitter, now known as X, in August 2020. “Under his leadership. During his presidency.” Social media users have looked back on that post in recent days, given the increased violence and arrests being made as anti-Israel activists have caused chaos on over a dozen college campuses in recent weeks.  “It’s now the year 2024, three full years into Joe Biden’s presidency and Jewish students are being blocked from their college campuses, and being told to stay home and remote learn,” conservative political commentator Stephen Miller recently posted on X. BIDEN ADMIN ACCUSES ISRAELI MILITARY OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN STUNNING CONDEMNATION “Is this the soul of the nation healed?” “Joe Biden has looked the other way as Democrat foot soldiers hijack universities across America,” Fox News Contributor Lisa Boothe told Fox News Digital. “He’s more concerned about winning votes in Dearborn, Michigan, than condemning the 20-year-olds cheering for intifada.” Former White House press secretary and Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer told Fox News Digital that Biden “would be well served by reading his old tweets and taking action.” “There are antisemitic uprisings on campuses across the country, and all Joe Biden can do is passively sit there and hope they go away,” Fleischer said. “He’s shown no leadership, despite this being far worse than the two-day Unite the Right protest in Charlottesville.” MICHAEL MOORE WARNS BIDEN TO ‘PULL THE PLUG’ ON ISRAEL AID OR RISK LOSING ELECTION David Avella, chairman of GOPAC and a veteran Republican strategist, told Fox News Digital that polling shows Americans feel less safe after three years of Biden. “Gallup reported more than 75% of Americans believe there’s more crime in the country than there was in 2022,” Avella said.  “Whether Biden’s statements condemning violence are hollow have less impact on his reelection then the fact that Americans feel less safe. Forty percent of Americans said they were afraid to walk alone at night within a mile of their home,” Avella continued. “The last time we were at this level was 1993. In the next election, President Clinton was at 46% approval and Republicans gained 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and gained eight seats in the Senate.  President Biden is at 39% approval and Americans are watching violence occur every day.” Conservatives on social media have recently resurfaced other posts from Biden during the summer of 2020, including a post where he said, “Does anyone believe there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is reelected?” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response. “President Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement on Tuesday. “Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful — it is wrong. And hate speech and hate symbols have no place in America.”

Sen Mike Lee targets university grants, cites ‘woke DEI programs,’ anti-Israel riots

Sen Mike Lee targets university grants, cites ‘woke DEI programs,’ anti-Israel riots

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is taking on university subsidies from the federal government as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs expand and schools lose control over antisemitic protests and riots across the country. The Utah Republican introduced the No Subsidies for Wealthy Universities Act in the Senate on Thursday, with Freedom Caucus member Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., introducing a companion version in the House. “The tax dollars of hardworking American families are going to ultra-wealthy universities, like Columbia and Harvard, supporting woke DEI programs while churning out graduates who despise our country and riot for the destruction of Israel,” Lee said in a statement to Fox News Digital. BIDEN CAMPAIGN LEANS INTO PENNSYLVANIA ROOTS TO WOO CRITICAL BATTLEGROUND STATE VOTERS The senator’s bill would address the issue of subsidies and grants being used to bolster DEI and facilitate them by scrutinizing what are referred to as indirect cost reimbursements. While direct costs are easily tracked and are used for items such as lab equipment, indirect costs are more difficult to predict and include the carrying out of such grants. Lee’s measure looks to eliminate the indirect cost reimbursements on these federal subsidies for research for any universities that boast endowments greater than $5 billion. For those with endowments less than $5 billion but still more than $2 billion, they would be capped at 8%. All other institutions would face a 15% cap for the indirect costs. REPUBLICANS ACCUSE BIDEN OF PUTTING ‘MORE PRESSURE ON ISRAEL’ THAN HAMAS AMID COLLEGE RIOTS He said that the emphasis being placed on DEI at U.S. universities, as well as the current anti-Israel protests and riots, prompted the legislation, slamming both as “a disgrace.” “If they want to trash their reputations as academic institutions, they can do so on their own dime,” Lee said. In his own statement, Cline said, “Billions in taxpayer dollars intended for scientific research at wealthy universities, like Columbia and Harvard, are being hijacked to finance radical DEI agendas.” SEN TIM SCOTT SLAMS ‘DISGUSTING’ COURT GAG ORDER RESTRICTING TRUMP’S ‘FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS’ “This misuse of funds is a blatant betrayal of American taxpayers. Congress has a duty to intervene, ensuring that these dollars are dedicated to legitimate research purposes, not to advance the Left’s political doctrine on our campuses,” he wrote.  SEN VANCE QUESTIONS DOJ ON COMPANIES FAVORING MIGRANT WORKERS OVER AMERICANS The bill would specifically target the use of indirect costs reported for compensation to DEI staff by requiring the amount for this purpose to be reported to Congress annually.  Columbia University, which has been the subject of national media attention for the past two weeks due to an anti-Israel encampment that effectively shut down the New York school, racked up the most in indirect costs associated with research grants. The Ivy League school received $471 million in fiscal 2022, per calculations made by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, citing federal data. Under Lee’s proposal, the school would be required to report how much of this money is going to DEI administrators.

Matt Gaetz blasts House antisemitism legislation as ‘ridiculous hate speech bill’

Matt Gaetz blasts House antisemitism legislation as ‘ridiculous hate speech bill’

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., railed against the House’s antisemitism legislation on Wednesday, blasting it as a “ridiculous hate speech bill” before the legislation was ultimately passed.  The Antisemitism Awareness Act aims to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses and would expand the legal definition of antisemitism used to enforce anti-discrimination laws. The bill comes at a time when anti-Israel protests are raging at college campuses across the country. It was passed overwhelmingly by a 320-91 vote in the House, but that’s not before critics like Gaetz came out against its passage, saying on social media that some excerpts of the Bible would meet this bill’s definition of antisemitism. POLICE AT UCLA MOVE TO BREAK UP ANTI-ISRAEL ENCAMPMENT “This evening, I will vote AGAINST the ridiculous hate speech bill called the ‘Antisemitism Awareness Act,’” Gaetz wrote on X. “Antisemitism is wrong, but this legislation is written without regard for the Constitution, common sense, or even the common understanding of the meaning of words. The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill!”  If passed by the Senate and signed by President Biden, the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act would mandate that the Department of Education legally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when enforcing anti-discrimination rules. Gaetz provided an example of one of IHRA’s definitions of antisemitism, which includes “claims of Jews killing Jesus,” claiming that the Bible would fall under the definition. ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ RAPIDLY EMERGING AS KEY SLOGAN OF ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS IN US “The Bible is clear. There is no myth or controversy on this. Therefore, I will not support this bill,” he wrote. The IHRA defines antisemitism on its website as: “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” Later on Wednesday, Gaetz doubled down on his opposition to the bill. “I want to Abolish the Department of Education. Not empower them as the “Antisemitism police,” Gaetz wrote. “Turning the DOE into the Antisemitism police would be a deeply unfortunate victory for Antisemitism, actually.” Critics of the bill attacked it as government overreach and said it would negatively impact free speech on campus. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., a Jewish progressive who is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, also opposed the legislation. “This definition, adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance or IHRA, includes, quote, contemporary examples of antisemitism, close quote. The problem is that these examples may include protected speech in some context, particularly with respect to criticism of the state of Israel,” Nadler said during debate on the bill.  “To be clear, I vehemently disagree with the sentiments toward Israel expressing those examples. And, too often, criticism of Israel does in fact take the form of virulent antisemitism.” The bill had over a dozen Democratic backers, including Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., who are Jewish, and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., among others. Seventy Democrats voted against the bill, while 133 voted against it. On the Republican side, just 21 voted against the bill, with 187 GOP lawmakers in support. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who led the bill, told Fox News Digital, “When people engage in harassment or bullying of Jewish individuals where they justify the killing of Jews or use blood libel or hold Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government — that is antisemitic. It’s unfortunate that needs to be clarified, but that’s why this bill is necessary.” Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.