Trump Warns US Universities Should Stop Anti-Semitic Propaganda Or Lose Accreditation If He Is Elected

Donald Trump. (Wikimedia Commons/Department of State)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told Jewish donors Thursday the United States universities would lose federal accreditation and support for what he described as "antisemite propaganda" if he was elected to the White House.

"Universities will and must end antisemit propaganda or they will lose federal accreditation and support," Trump said, speaking remotely to more than 1,000 Republican Jewish Coalition donors in Las Vegas.

In his speech, Trump also said he would ban the re-residentialization of refugees from areas "ful of terrorists" such as Gaza and arrest "pro-Hamas predictions" involved in vandalism, which appeared to refer to student protesters.

Under Trump and Joe Biden, the number of Palestinians received in the US as refugees is the same. From the 2017-2020 fiscal year, the US received 114 Palestinian refugees, according to US State Department data, compared to 124 Palestinian refugees from the fiscal year 2021 to July 31 this year.

While Trump made several concrete Middle East policy proposals for a second term, he described Harris's presidential potential in a devastating term for Israel.

"You will be abandoned if he becomes president. And I think you need to explain it to your people. You will not have Israel if he becomes president," Trump said without providing evidence for the claim.

Separately, a campaign spokesman for Vice President Kamala Harris, Morgan Finkelstein, said Harris was a lifelong supporter of Israel and opposed antisemitism.

The incumbent, the vice president, upholds President Joe Biden's strong support for Israel, rejecting calls from several people in Washington's Democratic Party to reconsider arms shipments to Israel over the large number of Palestinian casualties in Gaza.

However, he called for a ceasefire in Gaza, calling the situation there "destroying."

It is known that protests rocked campuses in the spring, with students opposing Israeli military attacks in Gaza and demanding agencies stop doing business with companies supporting Israel.

Republicans say the protests suggest some Democrats are an antisemit that supports chaos. Protest groups say authorities have unfairly labeled their criticism of Israel's policies as an antisemit.

The University of America association, which said it represented some 69 leading US universities, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The federal government of Uncle Sam's country does not directly accredit universities, but has a role in supervising most private organizations that provide accreditation to universities.