During an interview with MSNBC host and NBC News Senior Business Analyst Stephanie Ruhle that took place on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said that he supports the goal of the Trump administration’s investigations of campus antisemitism and threats to withhold funds and schools where Jewish students can’t go to class, get fair grades, or be treated fairly should be accountable, but “The way they’re going about it, like everything else, I think is chaotic and is reckless and is undermining people’s fundamental rights,” and people can say what they wish “within the bounds of the laws and the rules on campus, to say it, as long as they’re not interfering with some other student’s ability to learn, some other student’s ability to physically get to class.”
Ruhle asked, “I do want to ask, you have spoken out against antisemitism on college campuses. The president is doing so, but he’s now launching investigations, investigations against DEI and potentially holding federal funds because of speech on campuses. What do you think about that?”
Shapiro answered, “Look, I have tried to speak out against antisemitism on the left, right? As well as on the right. There should be absolutely no place for antisemitism, hatred, bigotry, in any form, on a college campus or in a community center. A Jewish student, a Muslim student, should have the ability to get to class, to learn, to get a fair grade, to be treated fairly on campus. And where that’s not happening, universities need to be held accountable, communities need to be held accountable. And so, I applaud the aim of what the administration is trying to do.”
He continued, “The way they’re going about it, like everything else, I think is chaotic and is reckless and is undermining people’s fundamental rights, their constitutional rights. I may not like what someone says on campus, but they have a right, within the bounds of the laws and the rules on campus, to say it, as long as they’re not interfering with some other student’s ability to learn, some other student’s ability to physically get to class. So, I think, in many ways, a couple of years ago, we were out of whack, we were out of balance, I should say, one way. And it feels like we’re getting out of balance in another way. I think more common sense in this space and I think what we need most from our leaders is moral clarity, and Donald Trump, certainly, is devoid of moral clarity when it comes to this work.”
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