Rep. Elise Stefanik, Republican of New York, questioned college leaders during a May 23 House Committee on Education and Workforce hearing.
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For months, House Republicans have summoned university leaders to testify at the Capitol about allegations of anti-Semitism on their campuses, with students calling for institutions to divest from Israel as he continues his war against Hamas.
Republican lawmakers say they are holding hearings to get answers to reports that students say they were harassed on and around campus because they are Jewish. Their efforts so far have led to the resignations of university leaders and continued attention to campus protests. But the investigations have also become a political tool in the Republican Party’s campaign to draw attention to divisions within the Democratic Party.
Hearings like the one held last week have returned to a familiar rhythm. GOP members accused leaders at Northwestern and Rutgers of negotiating with protesters and criticized UCLA’s chancellor for not asking police to act sooner.
“Here we are (again) having another hearing to complain about the problem of anti-Semitism,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, Democrat of Virginia, as the latest hearing with leaders of UCLA, Northwestern and Rutgers were starting. “But no work is being done to find a meaningful solution to quell the animosity on college campuses. Complaining about a problem is not a solution. It certainly annoys people, generates a lot of media coverage, but it doesn’t solve anything.”
Although there were some heated exchanges, university leaders appear to have largely learned lessons from their predecessors. At times, they admitted that there were missteps and that they would do things differently in hindsight, recognizing the difficulties of navigating protected speech and actions that violated campus policy. All three said the schools were investigating allegations of anti-Semitic speech and harassment. And all three appear to have avoided the viral moments that marked previous contentious hearings, none as memorable as New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s questioning of the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard in December, where both hesitated to answer on the question of whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated campus policies.
“It’s a political gift for the Republicans”
“Watching the first hearing (in December), you knew: Wow, this is a political gift for Republicans,” said Doug Heye, former communications director for the Republican National Committee.
He told NPR that the unrest on college campuses has given Republicans another arrow in their quiver as they make the case to American voters that the Biden administration and Democrats at large are the party of chaos.
“It’s a way for Republicans to campaign to Jewish voters like they’ve never done before,” he said. “And then it also fits into the broader narrative of chaos that Republicans are promoting.” And thanks to the mistakes that have been made on college campuses and in congressional testimony, Republicans are able to take advantage of them. »
He said the strategy has also been extremely beneficial for GOP fundraising.
“Colleges and universities are fundamentally unprepared to explain and/or defend what happened,” he said. “It also meant a huge political and fundraising boon for Republicans. »
Stefanik, the No. 4 leader of the House Republican Party, broke his own fundraising records after polling college presidents. Its political arm brought in a record $7 million in the first quarter of 2024.
“I don’t think we can underestimate what a godsend this has been for Elise Stefanik. That’s a big part of why she’s in the conversation for vice president,” Heye said, referring to speculation that she could be chosen by former President Donald Trump as his running mate. “But within her conference, she’s also in a much stronger position, because she’s been able to raise millions in small donations, a lot of which she then forwards to the congressional committee.”
The hearings are part of a multi-layered approach for House Republicans: They are holding votes to force Democrats to speak publicly on issues that divide them, such as supporting sending weapons to Israel and voting on the definition of anti-Semitism.
Heye acknowledged that he doesn’t expect the strategy to necessarily change a massive number of votes.
“But what we found is that if you move one or two percent here or there, you change the political map very quickly,” he said. “It may not mean millions of votes, but it may mean a few thousand votes in that region or that community and that can become very significant.”
Democrats downplay the threat
But Kristen Hawn, a Democratic strategist and partner at ROKK Solutions, said she thinks the hearings don’t actually move the needle for Democrats, even for those who are frustrated by what they see on campuses.
“I don’t think that because the House Republicans have a few hearings and a big PR campaign to try to tell them that the Democrats are not with them, that that’s necessarily going to change their minds,” he said. she told NPR.
She sees the issues that actually change voters’ minds as more tangible things like health care, abortion and the economy.
“I find it hard to believe that Republicans are capable of portraying the Democratic Party as the party of agitation in general.”
Additionally, she said it’s difficult for Republicans to take ownership of the issue of combating anti-Semitism when Trump — the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for president — has not fully condemned white supremacists. chanting “Jews will not replace us” in Charlottesville in 2017 and recently posted a message on social media. video featuring hypothetical headlines about his next term, including one referring to “the creation of a unified Reich.”
“There’s a lot of hypocrisy there. And they – especially with Donald Trump – are willing to overlook a lot. You know, ‘there are good people on both sides’ when we talk about people spewing hate,” Hawn said.
Many students are leaving campuses for summer break, but the House committee says that doesn’t mean their investigation will slow down anytime soon.
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