Haley floats repercussions for schools regarding response to antisemitism

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley warned presidents of three major colleges on Wednesday she would pull their tax-exempt status if elected president next year. Her comments came after the schools’ leaders refused to say that calling for Jewish genocide violated school rules.

Haley, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, made the comment on social media after the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology testified in front of Congress on Tuesday about their responses to the rise in antisemitism on their campuses.

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“Calling for the genocide of Jews is no different than calling for genocide of any other ethnic, racial, or religious group,” Haley posted on X, formerly Twitter. “The equivocation from these college presidents is disgusting. As POTUS, this will end or we’ll pull their tax exempt status.”

The comment also included footage from Tuesday’s hearing in which Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) asked the presidents if calling for the genocide of Jews violated their school’s bullying and harassment policies. None of the presidents explicitly said yes, but they claimed they would investigate any incident independently.

Each president answered the question individually, with UPenn President Liz Magill claiming it would be harassment if the speech “turned into conduct.” Harvard President Claudine Gay admitted that it could be harassment if the language was targeted at a specific person.

The responses led to pushback from lawmakers, including Stefanik, who found the responses to be “insufficient.” Stefanik also called for Gay’s resignation, and members of Harvard’s Jewish community and alumni have expressed shock at Gay’s response. Billionaire Bill Ackman, a Harvard alumnus, said the three presidents’ handling of the question betrayed a “profound moral bankruptcy” on their part.

“The presidents’ answers reflect the profound educational, moral and ethical failures that pervade certain of our elite educational institutions due in large part to their failed leadership,” Ackman wrote on X. “They must all resign in disgrace. If a CEO of one of our companies gave a similar answer, he or she would be toast within the hour.”

Haley has condemned the spread of antisemitism on college campuses in the past. In a post to X in November, the Republican presidential hopeful claimed that “antisemitism is no different from racism,” and she called out college leaders for not addressing it. The South Carolinian also claimed colleges are allowed to have “free speech” but not spread hate that “supports terrorism.”

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The college responses also drew condemnation from the White House on Wednesday.

“It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: Calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, according to the Hill. “Any statements that advocate for the systematic murder of Jews are dangerous and revolting — and we should all stand firmly against them, on the side of human dignity and the most basic values that unite us as Americans.”