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Black conservative student testifies on harassment at Iowa campus, says college ’empowering’ leftist threats
A self-identified Black conservative student at the University of Iowa grew emotional Wednesday while testifying before Congress about the harassment she’d experienced on campus, arguing college administrators are “coddling” and even “empowering” threats made by leftist demonstrators.
Jasmyn Jordan, chairwoman of the conservative group Iowa Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), told members of the House Judiciary Committee that she’s “discovered that the playing field for freedom of speech on college campuses was not equalized” between those on both sides of the political spectrum.
“The first time I noticed this was when Iowa YAF hosted Kellyanne Conway as a speaker. In response, I was doxxed in a group chat of over 800 students and was falsely labeled as a Nazi, a token, a white supremacist and a bigot,” Jordan said, growing visibly emotional. “Some individuals even expressed that I made them uncomfortable and feared that I might commit a hate crime against them simply because I’m Black and hold conservative principles. These students believe that if you are conservative, you are hateful, support oppression and only want to benefit straight White men even though such beliefs are untrue.”
The hearing, billed as to discuss “freedom of speech on college campuses,” also centered around the rise of antisemitic incidents at major American universities amid the Israel-Hamas war. After anti-Israel demonstrators disrupted the hearing crying for a cease-fire in Gaza and accusing the Jewish state of a “genocide” and “apartheid” of Palestinians, Rep. Darell Issa, R-Calif, warned that the demonstrators were unwittingly “playing into the hands of Iran” and called for investigations into who might be funding this unrest at American institutions.
Jordan, who said she was homeschooled until the fifth grade and raised to appreciate American principles, also detailed how her YAF chapter organized to have Lt. Colonel Alan West and columnist Matt Walsh, whose documentary “What Is A Woman?” propelled him to conservative stardom for exposing certain transgender issues, speak at the University of Iowa.
With West, she said online promotion of the event was altered “against school policy” with messages claiming “racism is prevalent in schools” and “critical race theory should be supported.”
When West did speak on campus on the topic of debunking diversity, equity inclusion and proving that America is not racist, Jordan recalled how a protester stood in the back of the event space holding a sign that read, “Stop the alt right, Punch your local Nazi today.”
“This is blatant irony. Conservatives are slandered by students and faculty as harmful. Here’s an obvious example of someone openly delivering a violent threat and facing no repercussions as the entitlement continues,” she said. “I find that when a conservative doesn’t want to hear a speaker, they just don’t attend the event. But when a leftist doesn’t want to hear a speaker, they do everything they can to shut the lecture down.”
As for when YAF brought Walsh to campus, Jordan said, “Students and faculty were willing to do anything to cancel the event just because they found Walsh’s speech to be offensive.”
“Some people were so dedicated to silencing our voices that literally, as one of us was advertising with chalk. A leftist student was erasing each of those letters with the wipe. We received death threats, along with plenty of verbal harassment that night before. Speaking of that, my hall mate, who happened to be the one who erased by chalk, stalked outside of my bedroom door by putting his ear on it to see if I was in my room because he was just outraged by my involvement,” Jordan testified. “That was a terrifying experience. But what I find to be more appalling is when I talked to our hall coordinator about this and she replied, ‘People are allowed to think, feel and react however they want to about this upcoming event.’”
WATCH: ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS DISRUPT HEARING:
At the event itself, Jordan recalled how someone spilled 20,000 marbles on the floor to prevent people from entering, attendees were spat on, and a popular band played music to drown Walsh out.
“Despite repeatedly meeting with the university administration, the rules are continually permitted to be broken by left leaning students,” Jordan said. “They are in fact coddled by our school. The university expresses affirmations and puts together support, solidarity and celebration spaces.
“These individuals act out against conservatives without care or consequence and are empowered to act this way because of the lack of action by the administration and university leaders,” Jordan said. The current student University of Iowa student went on to testify that, “conservatives often have to hide who they are and what they believe in so that they do not lose relationships or receive a lower grade or face constant doxing, harassment, intimidation or threats.
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“I went to college with the expectation that I would hear different points of view because I thought would be a place where young people could come together, disagree and still be friendly and courteous to one another,” she said. “However, after two years, I realized that this is not the case at all and that students who hold opposing views are often subjected to frequent violent threats and other forms of harassment with no accountability.”
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Jean-Pierre spikes football on GOP after election night, cites ‘extreme’ policy that gave Dems an edge
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took a victory lap after the largely positive results for Democrats on Election Day, saying Republicans’ “extreme” abortion policy gave her party the edge.
“President Biden’s values and agenda won big across the country last night. In Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and in Virginia, voters once again sided with President Biden’s agenda to stand up for fundamental freedoms and build an economy for the middle class and protect democracy,” Jean-Pierre said the moment she took to the podium for Wednesday’s press briefing.
Jean-Pierre cited Ohio voters overwhelmingly approving a ballot initiative that enshrined the “right” to an abortion in the state constitution, defining it as a rejection of “attempts by Republican elected officials to impose extreme abortion bans since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.”
WHO WERE THE BIGGEST WINNERS ON ELECTION DAY 2023?
“From Kentucky to Virginia to Pennsylvania, voters in those states also turned out to roundly reject abortion bans that jeopardized the health and the lives of women, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care and threatened to criminalize doctors and nurses,” she said despite Kentucky already having a near total abortion ban in place.
“The stakes could not have been higher. And last night, voters sent a very, very clear message. We have always said voting matters and polls do not. Our focus is going to remain on our work to grow the economy, lower costs for families and protect fundamental freedoms against dangerous agendas that are out of touch with the American people.”
Democrats won a number of major victories Tuesday, including deep-red Kentucky incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear handily winning re-election over Republican state Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Virginia Democrats winning control of both houses of the state legislature.
The victories put a damper on Republican hopes of building momentum heading into the 2024 elections, when control of the White House and both chambers of Congress will be up for grabs.
The GOP did have one bright spot on the night with the victory of incumbent Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who defeated a formidable challenge from Democrat Brandon Presley.
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James Comer Subpoenas Hunter and James Biden to Testify Under Oath
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Report: Democrats Circulate Plan to ‘Open the Floodgates for Palestinians’
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Andrew Luck, Desmond Howard among former players to attend White House event on student-athletes
White House officials Wednesday hosted former college and NFL players for a discussion on the rights of student-athletes amid the ongoing debate over revenue and other benefits for players.
Andrew Luck, Desmond Howard, Ryan Clark and Rod Gilmore were among the former college and NFL stars who visited the White House for the meeting, a Biden administration official said.
The discussion was expected to focus on “why all student-athletes deserve consistent safety standards, to have voice, and to benefit from the revenue they produce,” the official said.
The meeting marks a rare instance of the White House weighing in on the complex issues around college athletics and benefits for student-athletes, particularly when it comes to name, image and likeness (NIL) deals that allow players to benefit financially.
The Biden administration has always been unabashedly pro-union, and the meeting was expected to focus at least partly on efforts to organize among players.
While the NCAA lifted a ban on student-athletes being paid for promotions two years ago, there has been a complete lack of federal direction on the issue, leaving states to develop their own regulations.
Several senators have offered up potential solutions to address the current patchwork system surrounding NIL.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has proposed creating federal standards around NIL that would replace state laws.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a former college football player himself, introduced a bipartisan proposal earlier this year that would establish national NIL standards and provide medical care to injured athletes.
Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill
White House lashes out at Comer after House GOP issues Biden family subpoenas
The White House on Wednesday swiftly pushed back on House Republicans, most notably House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, for issuing subpoenas targeting Hunter Biden and his uncle James Biden, calling it part of a smear campaign against President Biden.
The House Oversight Committee took the remarkable step to seek depositions from the president’s son and brother as part of its impeachment inquiry, with the news breaking into the daily White House press briefing.
“This is an investigation that has been going on for a year now and has turned up zero evidence of wrongdoing by the president, because there is none,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to questioning on the breaking news.
“But, Republicans continue to double down on a baseless, baseless smear campaign against the president and his family instead of being focused on the American people’s needs, what they’re asking for, what is it that they truly want us to focus on — they continue to double down on this,” she said.
The White House also released a memo lashing out at Comer, who is leading the investigation into Biden as chairman of that committee.
The memo was entitled “James Comers’ Latest Effort to Distract from House GOP Failures with Political Attacks on the President and His Family” and argued that the year-old investigation has not turned up evidence.
“Turn on Fox News, and you’re more likely to see a House Republican talking about the President’s family than making life better for American families,” White House oversight spokesperson Ian Sams said in the memo.
He argued that House Republicans are going to “continue throwing spaghetti at the wall” but have heard from witnesses who refute their claims, citing NBC. And, he accused Comer of targeting the president’s family to damage him, including casting aspersions about his grandchildren and his other son Beau Biden, who died in 2015.
Sams said that House Republicans “should do their jobs” and join Biden towards bipartisan progress instead of pursuing the investigation.
That message was reiterated by Jean-Pierre, who said the White House and Congress need to deal with issues regarding national security, the economy, health care and gun violence but that Republicans instead “continue to try to smear this president and his family on a baseless, baseless investigation.”
The House Oversight Committee asked James Biden’s wife, Sarah Biden, and Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen, to sit for transcribed interviews, as well as Hallie Biden, the widow of Beau Biden, and her sister Elizabeth Secundy.
The panel is also requesting to speak with Tony Bobulinski, whom Hunter Biden’s attorney has accused of lying to the FBI.
The subpoenas come weeks after the committee demanded Hunter and James Biden’s personal bank records and also include a subpoena for Hunter Biden’s former business partner, Rob Walker.
Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill
VP says despite Dem wins, Biden-Harris have ‘a lot of work to do to earn our reelection’
Vice President Kamala Harris, in impromptu remarks from the White House on Wednesday, said that while she’s “confident” she and President Biden will prevail in 2024, she also acknowledged that the pair have “a lot of work to do to earn our reelection.”
“It was a good night, and the president and I obviously have a lot of work to do to earn our reelection, but I’m confident we’re going to win,” Harris said.
Harris spoke to a small group of reporters outside the West Wing about Tuesday night’s election results, where Democrats won control of both chambers of the state Legislature in Virginia, dealing a significant blow to Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R).
In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) won reelection in a reliably red state.
And in Ohio, voters approved constitutional amendments to ensure access to abortion and to legalize marijuana in the state.
Harris highlighted that the issue of abortion, an issue in which she’s been at the forefront of in the Biden administration, has been particularly powerful in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.
“As the American people made clear, they are prepared to stand for freedom and for the individual freedoms and the promise of freedom in America, and by extension it was a good night for democracy,” Harris said. “I think that if you look at, from the midterms to last night, from California to Kansas, Ohio to Virginia, the voters said, look, the government should not be telling women what to do with their bodies.”
Harris’ comments came at the same time White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was holding a press briefing just a few feet away. Jean-Pierre said she was not aware that Harris had planned to speak.
The Biden White House embraced Tuesday’s results as vindication of their agenda and a repudiation of Republicans’ stance on abortion in particular. And Biden allies were quick to spin the outcome as a sign of things to come in 2024, despite a slew of recent polls showing Biden trailing former President Trump in a hypothetical matchup — as well as job approval ratings that continue to slump — at the national level and in several key battleground states.
“We have always said that voting matters and polls do not,” Jean-Pierre said Wednesday. “Our focus is going to remain [on] our work to grow the economy, lower costs for families and protect fundamental freedoms against dangerous agendas that are out of touch with the American people.”
Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill
White House: ‘Alarming trend’ of antisemitic threats, attacks happening in US
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that the Biden administration is continuing to see an “alarming trend of antisemitic threats and attacks targeting Jewish communities across the country.”
Jean-Pierre cited “disturbing acts like ripping down posters of Jewish-held hostages by Hamas, vandalizing Jewish institutions, threatening to commit acts of violence against Jewish students, Jewish faith leaders and Jewish communities” and that it is “completely, completely unacceptable.”
“The president strongly condemns these brazen acts of antisemitism and has repeatedly made clear targeting Jews because of their beliefs or their identity is unacceptable,” she continued. “Make no mistake, we will continue to speak out against hate of every, every dimension.”
The remarks come as the Israel-Hamas war has passed the one-month mark, with Americans still being held captive by the terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.
LIVE UPDATES: ISRAEL AT WAR WITH HAMAS
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, when asked Wednesday about efforts to get the hostages released, said “I have no specific progress to announce or speak to today other than that we continue to be focused on trying to get all the hostages out, certainly the American citizens that we know are being held, but all of them.
JEWISH AMERICAN TURNS TO FIREARMS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES, THEIR FAMILIES AS ANTISEMITISM SURGES
“And in order to do that, as we saw with the first four that got out, two Americans and then two Israelis, a couple of days later, there was enough of a pause in the fighting to allow for their safe passage,” Kirby continued. “And that’s what we’re trying to get cemented is an agreement for as many pauses as might be necessary to get all of them out. But it’s a delicate negotiating process. And we’re still working at it.”
Kirby also said, “We have a way to communicate with Hamas” and “we’re using that way and we’re doing everything we can to get these folks back with their families.”
As for humanitarian aid entering Gaza, Kirby said in the last day, more than 80 trucks were able to enter the southern crossing at Rafah along Gaza’s border with Egypt.
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