Congressional Hype House
Congressional Hype House
How a Congressional hearing on antisemitism flooded the internet and gave Republicans the moment they wanted
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has a history of using antisemitic conspiracy theories to smear her political opponents. Referring to Manhattan District Attorney Alan Bragg as Soros-backed and accusing Joe Biden and House Democrats of partnering with “pedo-grifters,” a QAnon reference. Additionally, after the Buffalo Mass Shooting, Stefanik spewed rhetoric matching the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which the shooter had also preached in his manifesto.
So, of course, Congressman Elise Stefanik has managed to cast herself as a hero fighting the good fight against antisemitism on college campuses.
On Wednesday, the Presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT testified before the Congressional Committee on Education and the Workforce. The hearing was called "Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism," a timely topic worthy of uplifting and awareness. But since Republicans have the majority and treat Congress as their personal Hype House, what we got instead was the usual circus, with no care or consideration for the harm that the proceedings might cause Jewish and Muslim students on college campuses across the country.
Not that the college presidents crowned themselves in glory either. I have no idea what Harvard’s Claudine Gay, MIT’s Sally Kornbluth, or University of Pennsylvania’s Elizabeth Magill did to prepare themselves for the hearing, (per the NY, the law firm WilmerHale prepped Harvard and Penn’s presidents for the hearing and at met with MIT’s) but from the clips I watched, it seemed like they hadn’t done any. When Rep. Stefanik asked various questions about whether calling for genocide against Jews was considered free speech or harassment, each of the university presidents stumbled, painfully and repeatedly, on their answers.
I hate amplifying GOP stunts, but the clips are worth finding and watching as a cautionary tale. There is no doubt that Gay, Magill, and Kornbluth (who is Jewish) all care deeply about the safety of students on their campus and personally do not support calls for genocide against Jews. There’s also no doubt that Stefanik easily baited each University President by ostensibly asking questions about school policies and then immediately cranking up her outrage-o-meter to 11. They took the bait every time, failing themselves, the institutions they represent, and the students that attend them.
I asked Brandon Lorenz, a communications consultant who prepares clients to testify on the Hill (and helps me prepare for major interviews), how he would have approached this particular hearing: “All these members of Congress wanted was their viral moment – their incentives and their lines of questioning should have been seen from a mile away. In these settings, you must always lead with your values but be trained and prepared to hear every question as a possible viral moment and learn when not to be baited.” Lorenz said.
“Any good academic knows to do their homework, and the first thing I would have advised these folks to do is to look at what is being said on conservative media and Twitter by these members beforehand and build out their answers from there.”
Sadly, it’s too late, and that fallout has been swift and brutal. The outrage and anger has come from everywhere. Democrats joined Republicans, including the White House and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a non-voting board member for the University of Pennsylvania, castigating all three women for being unable to condemn genocide. Donors pulled seven and 8-figure gifts from the schools. Gay and Magill have issued statements and a video attempting to clarify their statements and clean up the mess, but the damage is done. Magill resigned her position yesterday, along with the University of Pennsylvania’s Board Chair. I wouldn’t be surprised if more resignations followed.
Congresswoman Stefanik got a huge win and the viral attention all Republicans crave. What she hasn’t done is address the real issue of antisemitism on college campuses or how current events in Israel and Palestine have led to both Jews and Muslims in America being less safe. Antisemitic and Islamaphobic incidents, including armed hate crimes, are on the rise. Three college students of Palestinian descent were shot in Vermont just two weeks ago, one of whom is now paralyzed from the chest down. And as this analysis from Scientific American reminds us, here in America, the same far-right extremists incite hate and violence against both Muslims and Jews, generally shifting from one to the other, as well as other marginalized communities, depending on the news cycle.
I hate to see the discourse on rising antisemitism become just another battle in the GOP’s endless culture wars. It’s completely disingenuous. But also because I think the left has to reconcile with its own strains of antisemitism, including on college campuses. Hate, harassment, and harm of any kind shouldn’t be partisan political issues, and as long as they are, we can’t have an honest conversation or reckoning. Congress could have used hearings to illuminate the harms caused by antisemitism and how it impacts students on college campuses from so many angles. But why do that when you can grandstand for likes, shares, and clicks instead?
Regarding the GOP’s need for attention, Lorenz reminded me that “George Santos just got booted from Congress, made a Cameo account, and now is on track to make more money and have a bigger profile than he did in Congress because he can go viral online.” Sometimes, I can’t help but wish some of Santos’ now-former colleagues would follow his lead and go that route. They’d still be peddling hate and outrage for attention, but at least they wouldn’t be exploiting an elected office and government resources to do it.
ICYMI
I Have Bad News for the Progressives Currently Beguiled by Liz Cheney (MSNBC)
Liz Cheney is an objectively terrible person. She’s also one of our best surrogates against Trump and the MAGA authoritarian movement in 2024. Cheney has been a helpful figure in the fight for Democracy post-insurrection. Still, I tend to agree with this take from Ana Marie Cox that the Left shouldn’t lionize Liz Cheney or attempt to turn her into some kind of progressive champion that she just isn’t and doesn’t want to be.
XLast: It’s Time to Do Something About X (Indivisible)
I'm excited about this campaign from Indivisible and have signed on as a supporter. The call to action is fairly straightforward: “The X-last approach is a simple, low-risk approach anyone and any organization can take to step back from X and help build community on emerging safer and better platforms. Adoption of the strategy means simply this: A commitment to posting to X-alternatives first, and posting to X, if at all, last.” It mirrors what I've been doing over time: moving away from Twitter and spending more time building a presence on other platforms. Hopefully, it gains traction.
Pentagon Has Investigated Dozens of Extremism Cases Within Its Ranks (Vice)
An update on the US military’s extremism problem, which we’ve covered before. A new report from the Defense Department says that the Pentagon has investigated“ 83 instances of extremism in military ranks...including 78 cases of troops “advocating for, engaging in, or supporting the overthrow of the U.S. Government or seeking to alter the form of the Government by unconstitutional or other unlawful means.”
Coda
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That’s all for now. I’ll see you again next week for the final newsletter of 2023! Please enjoy this compilation video of cats causing mischief with Christmas trees. Though the parent of two toddlers and three cats, I can say with authority that toddlers are the true enemy of Christmas trees everywhere.