Fox News smears Obama as antisemitic—because he likes free speech
Playing defense for President Donald Trump, Fox News floated the notion on Tuesday that former President Barack Obama is antisemitic for backing free speech at Harvard University.
Harris Faulkner, host of “The Faulkner Focus,” offered up the smear during a discussion of Trump’s efforts to curtail free speech at the school.
“Would that put former President Obama and others in his political camp—by the way, he went to Harvard Law School—you know, pushing against, are they antisemitic?” Faulkner asked. “We can’t say whether or not they are, I’m just asking the question, because I’m not listening to what they’re saying, because I almost don’t believe them, because I can see what they’re doing.”
Throughout its 29-year history, Fox News has often hidden behind the notion of “just asking questions” to lodge attacks against the left.
On April 11, the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard demanding that the school cut back on diversity efforts and screen international students’ political views, among other things, as a condition of receiving federal funding.
In response, the school told the administration on Monday that it rejects these demands.
“No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a message to the school’s community.
Obama praised Harvard’s actions Monday night, writing, “Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking steps to make sure students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope others follow suit.”
The Trump team has claimed that the demands are about antisemitism, but Harvard and other universities have long been a target of the right for their progressive activism and organizing. Now, the Trump administration is considering pulling nearly $9 billion in Harvard’s research funding.
According to The Harvard Crimson, if Trump makes good on his threat, the most severely impacted would be multiple Boston-area hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Garber has warned that the Trump cuts would “halt life-saving research.”
The Trump administration is attempting a systematic purge of dissent from universities under the guise of combating antisemitism. But it’s Trump and key members of his inner circle like billionaire Elon Musk who have spent years promoting antisemitic ideas, memes, and falsehoods.
Let’s not forget that Musk literally gave a Nazi salute during Trump’s inauguration.
Attacking Obama with specious claims of antisemitism is a return to form for Fox News, which has spent the last two decades advancing bigoted conspiracy theories about the president.
In fact, it was on Fox’s airwaves where a failed businessman-turned-reality TV host spent years promoting the racist and debunked “birther” conspiracy theory about Obama. His name was Donald Trump.
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