On the night of Tuesday, April 30, former President Donald Trump called into to Sean Hannity’s “Hannity” program on Fox News Channel and spoke with the FNC host about the then-ongoing protests on campuses across the country, protests that many on the right alleged needed to be cracked down upon because the protesters were occupying private property, and trespassing needs to be punished.
Particularly relevant at the time were the protests at Columbia University in New York City, where pro-Palestine protesters had taken over Hamilton Hall on campus as part of the protest, and NYPD officers were sent in to clear them out and make arrests. Hannity, beginning the conversation, recalled the October 7 surprise attack Hamas launched on Israel, questioning how Americans weren’t clear on who the bad guy is.
He said, describing the attack, “I witnessed a 48-minute tape that I wish the entire country could see. And what I’m trying to understand here is America right now doesn’t seem to have moral clarity. And that is, this should be and 99 to 1% issue where people understand that the state of Israel had the worst terror attack in their history.”
Continuing, he questioned how people in America don’t understand that the Islamist terrorists are the bad guys, saying, “I’m having a hard time understanding why don’t members of Congress, why aren’t these students, why aren’t political figures not understanding that there is good and evil here and radical Islamic terrorism is the evil part of this.”
Trump responded by roasting Sen. Chuck Schumer, accusing him of deserting Israel. He said, “Well, I’m watching Jewish politicians abandon Israel, and I’ve seen it and you have seen it. Where is Schumer? Why isn’t Schumer speaking up? He was always out there in front. Because he’s looking at votes, I guess. And I guess he’s maybe looking at more votes than represent Israel.”
Trump also blasted the protesters as “brainwashed.” He said, “When you have people out there protesting and they’re denying that Oct. 7 ever took place, they’re either brainwashed — in a certain way, I really believe they are brainwashed — because you look at some of the comments, they say, ‘None of this stuff happened,’ and, you know, ‘We want Israel back.'”
He added, “The fact is, you have to get Israel back where it belongs, because what’s happening in Israel right now is really not sustainable either. We have to let Israel complete their war on terror. It’s a horrible thing, but they have to do it, and they have to do it fast, and we have to get back to order.”
Watch Trump and Hannity here:
Schumer, for his part, had called out the protests earlier on that Tuesday when speaking on the Senate floor. He said, “Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech – it is lawlessness, and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist.”
Sen. Schumer continued, “Free speech, discussion, and even strong disagreement are fundamental American values, and campuses should be places where those values are cherished. Campuses cannot be places of learning and argument and discussion when protests veer into criminality, and those who commit such acts are doing nothing to convince others that their cause is just.”
He then added, “It is also unacceptable when Jewish students are targeted for being Jewish – when protests exhibit verbal abuse, systemic intimidation, or glorification of the murderous and hateful Hamas or the violence of October 7th. As I said in my speech here on the floor last November and many times since: that is antisemitism. It is loathsome. It is unacceptable.”
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