Scott Jennings rhetorically asks why taxpayers should foot bill for professors that despise ‘western civilization’ 

Republican strategist Scott Jennings questioned why taxpayers should provide Harvard University billions of dollars during a Monday CNN appearance, saying some of the professors at the Ivy League school appeared to hate “Western civilization.”

Harvard filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday after the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in grants after accusing the university of failing to combat antisemitism. After attorney Dan Abrams claimed that the Ivy League School was a political target, Jennings responded by saying that the school’s refusal to address the hostile climate for Jewish students warranted action.

WATCH:

“You don’t actually believe that it‘s just on the anti-Semitism. I mean, that’s the thing. Come on. Let’s — let’s not —” Abrams said, with Jennings cutting him off with, “I said the fight is worth picking because of that alone. But there are other reasons to pick on Harvard. Some are political and the Ivy League —”

“Well, most are. Almost all are political. I mean, come on, right?” Abrams shot back.

A report by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce released in September found that the university failed to discipline pro-Hamas protesters that disrupted classes, established an encampment and took over a building on the Ivy League school’s campus. None of the 68 students referred for discipline were suspended at the time the report was released.

“And some have to do with this. I think the average American probably looks at this and says they’re sitting on a $53 billion endowment. They want another 2 billion to $9 billion,” Jennings said. “And at the same time, they keep turning out a bunch of professors and students who appear to be schooled in one thing only: the downfall of Western civilization. Why are we financing this?”

During pro-Hamas demonstrations at colleges and universities across the country since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that killed over 1,200 people in Israel, anti-Israel protesters occupied buildings, chanted a slogan that has connotations of wiping out Israel and blocked Jewish students from parts of campus.

After “CNN NewsNight” host Abby Phillip noted Harvard produced conservatives, citing Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York entered the discussion, explaining why he introduced legislation to address antisemitism on college campuses.

“The fact is that most of these institutions want to say, ‘Oh, we‘re private,’ but yes, you are still required to uphold federal law, especially when you are taking federal dollars, period, end of story,” Lawler added.

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