Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-SC) condemned Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and called for his resignation over his reaction to rising antisemitism in schools.

The Education Department gave a statement to Newsmax regarding the phrase “from the river to the sea,” which is often chanted by pro-Palestinian protesters. It implies that Palestinians deserve all of Israel’s land to inhabit. According to the department, Cardona is “aware that many many find the chant threatening and antisemitic” but the statement stopped short of condemning the language. Foxx said the statement “was not an appropriate response” in a Friday interview on the National Report.

“The American Jewish Committee has said in their glossary of how to translate terms that are hate speech, and this is one of those. People know that,” Foxx said. “And this is definitely antisemitic. This is on top of all the incompetence in the department, and I think the secretary should resign as a result of not just the statement but everything else that he’s done; the statement is on top of his other incompetencies.”

Foxx is the House Education Committee chairwoman and was there for the testimonies of the then-presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, Liz Magill, and Harvard University, Claudine Gay. They, too, would not confirm that the chant qualified as antisemitic and subsequently resigned from their respective positions. Cardona was seemingly crafting the statement to sound like these former presidents, according to Foxx.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“The students should feel safe, and they should know that their secretary of education is concerned for them,” Foxx said.

Cardona had a career as a teacher before President Joe Biden nominated him as secretary.