New York, N.Y., – In case you missed it, House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik joined Newsmax's National Report about preventing the Iranian regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon and eradicating antisemitism in higher education.
View highlights from Chairwoman Stefanik's interview:
On Iran:
We're monitoring this very closely. I serve on the House Armed Services Committee as one of the most senior members. I serve on the House Intelligence Committee, and President Trump has been very clear for years, not just for this term, that Iran must not pursue nuclear weapons capability, and we strongly stand with Israel. Israel has a right to defend itself, and we are very proud of Israel's strong national security policies to defend its nation. Obviously, the President is the core of this in terms of intelligence every single day, but I know the American people trust President Trump to keep us safe and to strengthen our national security. He is the peace president. And he talked about the fact that he pursued these discussions for 60 days. And he pointed out the Iranians refused to make a deal. Instead, on day 61, they refused to make a deal. They're in a very different position now. And as he said two key words, "unconditional surrender." I strongly support the president. I support his peace through strength agenda. I've worked with him for years on this issue, and this is very important. It is an opportunity to have peace in the Middle East once and for all.
On Antisemitism in Higher Education:
We are working with the administration hand in glove. There are multiple facets to this. So first of all, these universities get billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funds. We need to withhold these funds because these universities have failed to fix themselves. We also need to go at the heart of it and look at any foreign dollars that are flowing into our university systems. We have put forth legislation to address that, and there needs to be more investigation in that space as well. This also exposed the failure of governance of these universities. These boards have refused to meet their fiduciary requirements to lead these schools. So I'm dealing with all facets of this as well. We also have to go after the offices of DEI, which, by definition, are antisemitic. In the case of Harvard, you had many Jewish students reach out with concerns of rising antisemitism, and this was before October 7, and yet the office of DEI at Harvard refused to respond because they did not believe that Jewish students deserved a response from the office of DEI that at its core is antisemitic. So there are many tools we have. We are the leader working with the Trump administration, and thank goodness we elected President Trump. This was a major pillar of his efforts to combat antisemitism. And it's not just what we're seeing on college campuses. Look at the New York City mayoral Democrat primary. You have one of the top two leading candidates who said that Israel does not have a right to exist as a Jewish state. You have that same candidate saying that he would arrest Netanyahu in New York City. This is today's Democrat Party that has been embraced by Kathy Hochul.
On Antisemitism in New York School Study Guide:
We have to have zero tolerance for antisemitism in the state of New York. We have the largest population of Jewish residents out of any other state in the nation, and what we have seen is a skyrocketing of antisemitic slurs, crimes, hate crimes, and assaults against Jewish individuals and Jewish families. We need higher security for our synagogues. We need a zero tolerance. Or look at what the New York State Assembly did under Democrat leadership. They refused to vote on a resolution recognizing the horrific day of October 7. They pulled that the New York Democrats did that, and that is under Kathy Hochul. So we will have zero tolerance. And we certainly will not have tolerance for a New York City mayor that is at their core, antisemitic. So that is what Kathy Hochul has embraced. She owns this. If you look at Jewish voters in the state of New York, they are increasingly voting Republican because they know that Republicans stand strongly with Israel, that Republicans are the leader, and I've been the leader of that charge to combat, condemn, and zero out antisemitism, whether it's on college campuses or on our streets and communities in New York State.
On President Trump's New Flagpoles:
I think it's classic President Trump. You see how detail-oriented he is. He is a builder at heart. You talked about his passion for raising this flagpole of beautifying the White House grounds. At the same time, talking about his peace through strength agenda and ensuring that Iran is not able to pursue nuclear weapons capability. He talked about economic policies, benefiting the American worker. He talked about the importance of lowering interest rates to make so many things more affordable - to dig out of the economic hole we were in under Joe Biden. He talked about the autopen, where you had a president who was not in control of anything and relying on his Far Left radical aides, versus President Trump, who is aware of everything going on, whether it's his discussions with heads of state. So I think that was classic President Trump. I love to see it, and I love to see these flagpoles.
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