- 6/25/2025
At today's House Judiciary Committee hearing, lawmakers had a frank discussion about antisemitism in the U.S.
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00:00You know, I have all sorts of notes on this, but I'm living it every day now, every day.
00:12To be Jewish in this country now is an out-of-body experience on what's going on.
00:21You know, my grandmother escaped the Holocaust. She was part of the Kindertransport out of Germany.
00:25Parents were killed in Auschwitz, lost all sorts of other family in Poland, and this is not comparable to that.
00:34But the very beginnings of that are very comparable, right?
00:40Because you've got to dehumanize them first, right?
00:44You've got to make them others. You've got to make them feel like they don't belong, right?
00:49You've got to make them feel, you've got to make other people feel, you've got to build coalitions, you've got to build consensus that, you know, the Jews don't belong.
01:01And I want to be clear.
01:03This theory out there that, oh, you can be anti-Zionist or you can be anti-Israel and not be anti-Semitic,
01:11I would say that theoretically you could, but that is not what's happening.
01:16It is not what's happening.
01:18You can absolutely go criticize the government. Great. Wonderful. We do it here.
01:23But that is not what's happening.
01:25It wasn't what was happening on university campuses.
01:27I went to Colombia, I did Mr. Goldman, during Passover to be with those students.
01:32That was not what was happening when they were holding up signs saying, go back to Poland.
01:37It's nothing to do with Netanyahu.
01:38And people were silent.
01:43And Jewish families across the country knew the stuff that was going on college campuses.
01:49Okay, if that was happening with any other minority group, it wouldn't have gotten past lunchtime on the first day.
01:55I have police outside my house 24 hours a day.
01:58You think that's because of Netanyahu?
02:00Right, my kids, death threats against them.
02:03I had an assassination attempt by a resident, a guy that was picked up, going to go to jail for a decade, right?
02:10Had an anti-Semitic manifesto.
02:12My name was the target.
02:14Was Googling where my wife worked.
02:15Was Googling wind resistance and distance.
02:18Had a scope.
02:19Had a vest.
02:19Had hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
02:21And had a sniper.
02:26So, I know what's going on in this country.
02:31But I would tell you, there is one thing that is uniting the left and the right, and that is Jews.
02:37This is not just a problem on the left.
02:41Go look what's going on on social media on the woke right.
02:43It isn't just some Nazis in a basement anymore, okay?
02:48Marjorie Taylor Greene is holding up the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act because she wants to be able to say the Jews killed Jesus.
02:56So, this is a problem in both of our houses.
03:00And pretending it is not is one of the reasons why we're not cleaning it up.
03:04Because we're just saying, oh, you know, you over there or you over there.
03:08This is not going well for Jews right now.
03:15And it isn't getting better, by the way.
03:17We have not yet peaked to where this is going to go.
03:21And, yeah, we can talk about the legacy media all day long, Mr. Schneider.
03:24But that's not where we're losing the youth of this country.
03:28We're losing them on TikTok, which is owned by a foreign country.
03:31That the president now has extended beyond what the law has allowed.
03:35I don't want TikTok to go away, but I want it to get out of the hands of the Chinese, okay?
03:42They are doing the Nazi playbook.
03:44They are dividing us.
03:46They are fulming.
03:46They don't need to do it with B-2 bombers.
03:49That's not what the Chinese plan is.
03:51The Chinese is to get us to fighting amongst ourselves.
03:54The Chinese plan is to get us angry and divisive.
03:57And the Chinese plan is to start with the easiest target possible.
04:01And that is us.
04:02And so, until we stop doing this, you know, who did what to who stuff, okay, we're not going
04:11to solve this.
04:12Jews are losing their usual allies.
04:15Those allies that we've had for decades and decades and decades, groups that Jews have
04:20stood up for, we're losing them by the moment, especially amongst young people.
04:26So, you know, I'm called a foreign asset, right?
04:32That I'm a foreign lobbyist.
04:35I mean, it's just endless.
04:37Go look any post I put up, the hatred, the vitriol that's going on.
04:43And so, I appreciate this hearing, Mr. Chairman, but this hearing ain't going to fix shit.
04:49Okay, this is a virus that is spreading.
04:56And until we're serious about stopping what's going on online and the brainwashing of our kids,
05:03this is going to get worse and more people are going to die in this country.
05:08And it is going to be us.
05:10I yield back.
05:11Gentleman yields back.
05:16If the gentleman would yield for just a quick second.
05:18If the chairman would allow me just an extra 15 seconds, Mr. Chairman.
05:23I, if, if we'll record everything or maybe it'll be a chance further on down the road.
05:29But if I, in all fairness, if I give it to you, I have to give it to all the members.
05:32I understand.
05:32I won't say that was anti-Semitic.
05:33And we'll be here alone.
05:34It's not.
05:35I think you know.
05:36A little humor doesn't hurt.
05:37A little humor doesn't hurt.
05:38We don't agree.
05:40He is a funny guy.
05:41I tell him that all the time.
05:42He's got a great sense of humor in all times.
05:45But, and you know that I agree with some of what you said, but I'm going to yield some
05:53time to myself and then Mr. Schmidt will actually, you'll come in the next round.
05:57But I wanted to address some of those things.
06:00So I've really attempted to do this hearing in as nonpartisan a way as I possibly can.
06:07And I would agree with Mr. Moskowitz that there is some fault on the right.
06:13There's no question.
06:14We have some extreme right wing.
06:16And I'm conservative.
06:17I'm a very conservative person.
06:19But there's no room for this on any side.
06:22But some of the examples that are given of how this administration is anti-Semitic or done
06:31the wrong thing by Jews, in general, I don't buy that.
06:34I really don't.
06:35Let me be clear.
06:37Some of the government-funded agencies were promoting anti-Semitic, anti-equality.
06:46I don't use equity.
06:47I use equality proposals.
06:50Let me be clear.
06:51Many universities, Ms. Cooper, you and I have spoken about it.
06:55I mean, my university, I graduated undergraduate.
06:58I went to dental school after, but undergraduate.
07:01I'm just pouring out my heart here.
07:02I don't have this all written down.
07:04I went to Rutgers University.
07:06I'm proud of Rutgers.
07:06It's a good school.
07:07It's a good public school.
07:09Some of the things that are said and are going on, some of the professors that are tenured,
07:15you've got to be kidding me.
07:17So I would say the same thing to my friends on the left, on the Democrat side, whatever you
07:24want to say.
07:25Don't tell me that you don't see that, because if you don't, then your eyes are closed.
07:30We have a real problem.
07:31Want to talk about a real problem?
07:33We have a real problem in our universities.
07:35We've got a real problem in our colleges.
07:37We've got a real problem with what we're teaching young kids.
07:40There is a desire to change the fabric and structure of the United States of America,
07:46and this is one of the number of ways they want to go about it.
07:49Our health care system, I think it was Mr. Marcus, I'm not sure, Mr. Schneider mentioned,
07:55even our health care system doesn't really exhibit equality and has gone after Jews.
08:01Some of the DEI policies weren't DEI policies for everyone, and I don't even like the policies
08:06to begin with.
08:08Equality for everyone, absolutely.
08:10Opportunity for everyone.
08:12But some of them were inherently anti-Jewish.
08:15Corporation policies they were actually promoting.
08:19We're anti-Jew, anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic.
08:23Let's tell the truth.
08:24It's tell the truth time.
08:27Media policies, I mean, I notice this all the time.
08:30I'm sorry, and I'm not trying to be partisan, damn it.
08:33I just see it.
08:34I see the coverage of things.
08:35I see when I'm at a meeting, and I understand you should cover both.
08:39You should cover the right.
08:40You should cover the left.
08:41Universities should cover everything.
08:43But allowing hate and venom and a call to violence, some of these young people are influenced
08:51by that.
08:51And the most ironic part of it all is in these universities and colleges, the very people
08:58who are doing the anti-Jewish propaganda would never be anti-United States government and
09:06recommending, again, it's their right to speak out.
09:09But to do in a way that encourages violence and pain and hurt is wrong.
09:16And my God, if they were in any of these countries that they're promoting, some of these countries,
09:21women can't drive.
09:22Some of these countries, women can't show their face.
09:24Some of these countries, if you're gay, you'll be killed.
09:27Let's tell the damn truth.
09:29Since Mr. Moskowitz wants to tell the truth, and I know he does, and I respect him, but
09:34let's tell the truth on this.
09:36Would the gentleman yield for a minute?
09:38In a second.
09:40And let's be also clear, we're trying to, and I get you don't like President Trump.
09:44I get it.
09:45I do.
09:45You don't.
09:46It's okay.
09:46There's differences on the right and left, conservative, liberal, Democrat, Republican.
09:50But the statistics that we're using, because it takes a number of years to actually develop
09:57them, are not from when he was even in the presidency.
10:00They are from when Joe Biden was the president of the United States.
10:04And I'm not going to lay that on Joe Biden's feet either.
10:06But the point is, to push that all on President Trump is inherently unfair.
10:11So let's stop it.
10:12And I know, Mr. Moskowitz, you say that this isn't enough, but damn it, we had to start
10:17somewhere.
10:18You know, I wish I had more time, because I can't overuse my time either.
10:22But Ms. Cooper, I'm going to ask you questions real quickly.
10:25And I just want a yes or a no.
10:28Are universities that tolerate harassment of Jewish students violating their obligations
10:32under Title VI?
10:33Yes or no.
10:35Has the threat environment on campus escalated tremendously, including Rutgers, and I hope
10:39somebody from Rutgers, including the new president, is watching since October 7th, 2023?
10:44Yes or no?
10:45Yes.
10:46Has the Trump administration strengthened enforcement of Title VI through investigations, et cetera?
10:51Yes or no?
10:51Yes.
10:52Should colleges that allow open support for terrorist groups like Hamas on their campuses
10:56be subject to loss of federal funding?
10:59Yes or no?
11:00Yes.
11:00More.
11:02The consequences of university administrators when they treat chance life from the river
11:07to the sea as protected speech instead of addressing them as threats?
11:12Is that right?
11:12Yes or no?
11:14It's not right.
11:15Not right.
11:15Should student groups that glorify terrorist organizations face disciplinary questions and
11:20consequences?
11:21Yes or no?
11:22Yes.
11:23And more.
11:23Do you believe that some of the current federal civil rights enforcement tools are too slow
11:27or too weak for modern campus anti-Semitism?
11:33Very weak.
11:34Yes.
11:34Okay.
11:35I yield my time back.
11:37Next is, and we ask the ranking member from the great state of Texas, as she always likes
11:43to point out, right?
11:44Yes.
11:45Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
11:46And as I was listening to Mr. Moskowitz, it reminded me of the reason that I started off
11:51the remarks the way that I did when I talked about being united.
11:54He mentioned the alliances.
11:57And as a civil rights attorney, you can't come up in the civil rights world and not be
12:01told about the alliance that existed, the alliance that has been oftentimes referred
12:06to as the grand alliance between black and Jewish Americans.
12:11And there's an article that has some really great information in it.
12:15But what I want to get to is this one part, because I do want to yield more time to my
12:20colleagues.
12:20It says, the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its
12:30conscience, and that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man, that will
12:38be the day of man as man.
12:41And this was in reference, this was a quote from King, Martin Luther King, because Martin
12:48Luther King marched with so many amazing Jewish leaders, and they came together for the purpose
12:57of moving forward in this country.
12:59And it was a great Texan that signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law just a few months
13:06after Dr. King was quoted as saying this.
13:08And the reason that I bring this up is because when we start to talk about policy, I do want
13:12to be clear that this administration has been very clear that it is anti-DEI.
13:17And while they have defined things such as DEI or diversity, equity, and inclusion to be
13:22basically black, if you just Google, it will tell you that it refers to the presence of
13:28differences among people encompassing various characteristics like age, race, ethnicity, gender,
13:34sexual orientation, religion, and more.
13:37The reality is that there was a time in which our leaders understood that marching together
13:43for civil rights would somehow lead to the liberty and the freedom of all.
13:48And that is really where I want us to get instead of saying that it's okay to love and support
13:54one group and hate another.
13:56We need to come together and stand against hate as a whole.
14:00And I will yield to Mr. Moskowitz.
14:02Thank you, Ranking Member.
14:04Just 30 seconds.
14:05Mr. Chairman, I know what's going on in the universities.
14:07I promise.
14:08I've been there, right?
14:09I know the foreign money that has come into these universities.
14:12I know programs that are being taught there.
14:15No one is denying that that's the deal.
14:17And it's by design.
14:18It's to go after the youth, right?
14:21It's targeted, okay?
14:23And, you know, maybe the left is a couple of years ahead of you.
14:26But I want you to understand this is not a partisan problem.
14:31What you saw, okay, in this strike in Iran, if you look at social media, I want you to understand
14:39that there are a lot of people on the woke right that it turned out they hated Jews more than they
14:46liked the president.
14:47And they picked a side.
14:49That's how much they hated Jews.
14:52And it is people, yes, there's all sorts of bots on Twitter.
14:56But it is people with millions of followers.
14:59And they are brainwashing.
15:01And so now it's happening on both sides.
15:05Okay?
15:05And you know what's happening?
15:06It's coming like this.
15:08It starts over here.
15:09And then it goes.
15:10And then it goes.
15:11And then you have consensus.
15:12And that's where we're headed.
15:14And so I'm not debating with you that you're not correct.
15:19But I want you to open your mind to understanding that this is a problem everywhere now.
15:25I'll yield back.
15:26And I will yield to Mr. Goldman.
15:27And thank you to the ranking member.
15:29And I'll pick up on where Mr. Moskowitz.
15:31Mr. Chairman, as you may know, I'm the co-chair of the Bipartisan Antisemitism Task Force.
15:38And I will make a deal with you.
15:41I will call out all the antisemitism that I see on the extreme left if you lead by example
15:48and call out all the antisemitism you see on the extreme right.
15:51Because the more that we go back and forth and accuse the other of being worse and try
15:56to prop up, oh, what this administration has done on Title VI or on DOJ or whatever the
16:04litany of questions that you asked Ms. Cooper, the less we are able to tackle the problem.
16:11The reality is that unfortunately this administration has decided to move its enforcement of Title VI
16:18from the Department of Education and OCR, which Mr. Marcus led in the first Trump administration,
16:24and Mr. Nosenchuk was a deputy in the last administration.
16:28And now it's to DOJ.
16:30Now, you can make an argument, as Ms. Cooper will likely make, that that's a stronger cudgel
16:37against antisemitism.
16:38That may be the case.
16:40But it moves a lot slower.
16:41And so I would urge us to talk about how we can tackle this problem, because it's got
16:47to be through both.
16:48We need a robust Office of Civil Rights that can move quickly to investigate antisemitism
16:54on campus and remedy the problem before we get to litigation, which takes a very, very
17:00long time.
17:02And what I hope we can do is recognize that to address the issue on the substance, we have
17:10to take the politics out of it.
17:12Because, yes, you may have Harvard or Columbia or Penn, and that may get a lot of attention,
17:19and it may seem like you're really cracking down on antisemitism.
17:22But Mr. Nosenchuk can correct me.
17:24There were almost 200 complaints of antisemitism that were filed to the Office of Civil Rights
17:31during the last administration.
17:33At one point, there was an average of 51 investigations per employee at the Office of Civil Rights.
17:41Nobody can do 51 investigations.
17:44So let's get to the bottom of the substance here, rather than try to put one party ahead
17:50of the next.
17:50And I say this as somebody who, like Mr. Moskowitz, is eager and open to calling out the antisemitism
17:57that occurs on the extreme left on campuses.
18:00And I will continue to do that.
18:02And I will be a leader in calling out my own party.
18:06But we need people on both sides to be calling out antisemitism on both sides in order for
18:12us to address this.
18:13And I thank you for the extra time, and I yield back.
18:16And rest assured, when I see antisemitism, I'm willing to work hand in hand with folks on
18:24both sides of the aisle.
18:25Today's attempt, the resolution that I did on the floor, today's attempt as well, there's
18:30no doubt that there's fault that can be found on both sides.
18:34But there is fault on both sides.
18:37I don't want it to be that just everything Trump is bad, everything Trump is wrong.
18:41This all came because of Trump.
18:43This came from a variety of things happening at once.
18:46It's a very challenging time in America for people of Jewish descent.
18:52It just is.
18:53It's a serious thing.
18:54This is no joke.
18:55And I will agree with you that.
18:56This is no joke.
18:57It should be beyond partisanship.
18:59We never seem to succeed in Congress to be beyond partisanship.
19:04Maybe this can be an example of where we will.
19:06I am absolutely willing to give it a shot.
19:09With that, I want to yield to Mr. Schmidt.
19:12Five minutes.
19:13Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
19:15I want to thank our witnesses and thank my colleagues for what I think is.
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