Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., needs to "take off [her] blinders" regarding the anti-Israel student demonstrations that have roiled Columbia and Yale and realize "these aren't peaceful protests."
Ocasio-Cortez on Monday described the protests as "peaceful," despite reported incidents of harassment and threats of violence against Jewish students.
"They called the riots of the summer of 2020 'peaceful' when they were burning buildings and people died," Murphy said Tuesday on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "AOC doesn't have much of a touch of reality, whether it be in economics or in social issues. This is her happy day, when she can see protests and everything destructive on campuses.
"This is the result, and let's look at this objectively, of what's happened on college campuses. The liberal teachings, the moral relativism that goes on. This is the result of the progressive liberalism of colleges and universities. It's always thought to be that they would protest and do all these other things, but now we are carried to the extreme, where they're calling for the actual death, genocide, of the Jewish people. It is just horrific."
Murphy was asked what he thought of his Democrat colleagues who are downplaying the seriousness of the antisemitic college protests.
"It's obvious that they're doing it for political purposes because [President] Joe Biden is caught in a difficult situation," he said. "Democratic folks are either pro-Israel or pro-Palestine and he's trying to walk the fine line and be happy to both.
"No, you have to pick a side in this. The Palestinians do have it rough; I'm not going to say anything otherwise. But after what happened on Oct. 7 … I was in a kibbutz in February a year ago where everybody now is dead. They've been slaughtered, and to say that's going to happen again in this country? I'm sorry, there's a special place in hell for those folks."
Murphy said that the presidents and faculty of these colleges and universities need to assert their authority and put a stop to the "nonsense." At Columbia, the demonstrations shut down in-person classes before Passover due to safety concerns.
"This is their campus," Murphy said. "They need to rein this in. When you had a New York police officer, I believe, who was shot, these aren't peaceful protests. Good Lord, take off your blinders. They need to rein their campuses in."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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