‘Subterfuge’: Univ President Calls Trump’s ‘Anti Anti-Semitism’ Reason for College Crackdown ‘Bogus’

Wesleyan University President Michael Roth blasted the Trump administration’s justification for its crackdown on elite universities Friday, calling its stated concern over antisemitism a “bogus” political maneuver to assert control over education.

Roth, the first Jewish president of Wesleyan, made the remarks during an interview on CNN’s OutFront. Guest host Erica Hill questioned him about the administration’s stated rationale for actions taken against schools such as Columbia and Harvard.

“Part of what the administration has said when it comes to a lot of the moves that have been made in specifically in higher education,” Hill said. “The administration had said this is part of an effort to combat anti-Semitism. You’re the first Jewish president of Wesleyan University.”

The host asked, “Do you believe these efforts are having a meaningful impact on the way schools are dealing with anti-Jewish hate on campus?”

“I think that this is a bogus reason,” Roth said. “It has nothing to do with curbing Jewish hate.”

Roth continued:

Hatred of Jews is real. We saw these poor kids gunned down yesterday, not because they work at the Israeli embassy or anything. That’s nonsense. They were gunned down because they were at a Jewish event. Antisemitism is real, and it’s violent in America. But it’s not confined to college campuses. Colleges and universities can be places where Jews, Christians get along reasonably well.

Roth concluded, “I think this reason reasoning about anti-anti-Semitism is bogus and you see this in the department of education’s letter to Harvard, cutting other funding they don’t mention anything about anti-Semitism or Jews, so I think that’s a a subterfuge to try to get more control over what happens at a on a campus.

The Trump administration has portrayed elite universities nationwide as havens for Jewish hatred.

Schools such as Harvard have been threatened with a loss of funding, investigations, and a ban on admitting foreign students.

Watch above via CNN.