Conservatives Flame Nikki Haley For Proposal to Crack Down on Speech About Israel

Online conservative influencers and pundits went after former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley over her proposal to crack down on free speech regarding Israel.

Amid the current Israel-Hamas war, the Republican presidential candidate ramped up rhetoric against antisemitism by showing her support for the nation of Israel and vowing to protect Jews in the United States. On Wednesday, she fired off a tweet pledging to change the federal definition of anti-Semitism to include denying Israel’s right to exist.

“You can’t fight antisemitism if you can’t define it. Joe Biden and the Left refuse to call anti-Zionism antisemitism,” she claimed. “As president I will change the official federal definition of antisemitism to include denying Israel’s right to exist, and I will pull schools’ tax exemption status if they do not combat antisemitism in all of its forms – in accordance with federal law.”

Haley added, College campuses are allowed to have free speech, but they are not free to spread hate that supports terrorism. Federal law requires schools to combat antisemitism.

We will give this law teeth and we will enforce it. The United States of America will not use taxpayer dollars to fund antisemitism. Period. The Oct. 7 massacre and the ensuing weeks have proven what many of us have long known: There is no difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism.”

Media personalities and right-wing influencers on X, formerly known as Twitter, did not respond kindly to Haley’s proposal.

For example, Intercept co-founder Glenn Greenwald and journalist Lee Fang argued Haley’s proposal not only infringes upon the free speech, especially on college campuses, but broadens the censorship powers of the government.

Other conservative personalities claimed Haley’s proposed policy are “un-American” and “makes it clear where her loyalty lie”