Stefanik blasts Harvard president over apology regarding Jewish genocide comments: ‘I asked you 17x’

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., criticized Harvard University President Claudine Gay after she apologized for remarks made on antisemitism during a congressional hearing Tuesday.

In an interview with The Harvard Crimson published Thursday, Gay apologized for her remarks before Congress earlier in the week, saying “I am sorry…Words matter.”

“When words amplify distress and pain, I don’t know how you could feel anything but regret,” Gay said. “I got caught up in what had become at that point, an extended, combative exchange about policies and procedures.

“What I should have had the presence of mind to do in that moment was return to my guiding truth, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community — threats to our Jewish students — have no place at Harvard, and will never go unchallenged,” added Gay. “Substantively, I failed to convey what is my truth.”

HARVARD PRESIDENT APOLOGIZES, SAYS SHE FEELS ‘REGRET’ FOLLOWING TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS

Stefanik, however, isn’t taking her apology seriously.

“No, Dr. Gay. You were given an opportunity to speak your truth. And you did. Not once. Not twice Not 5x. Not 10x I asked you 17x(!!!) in the hearing about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates @Harvard code of conduct. You spoke your truth under oath 17x. And the world heard it,” Stefanik posted on X.

Stefanik asked Gay during the hearing if calls for the genocide of Jews on campus would violate Harvard’s code of conduct related to bullying and harassment.

“At Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment?” Stefanik asked.

“It can be, depending on the context,” Gay responded.

Stefanik pressed Gay, asking her to give a yes or no answer to her original question.

RABBI RESIGNS FROM HARVARD’S ANTISEMITISM BOARD FOLLOWING SCHOOL PRESIDENT’S ‘PAINFULLY INADEQUATE TESTIMONY’

“Antisemitic speech when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation — that is actionable conduct, and we do take action,” Gay said.

Stefanik continued to press Gay, but she responded, “Again, it depends on the context.”

“It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes and this is why you should resign,” Gay shot back. “These are unacceptable answers across the board.”

Following the exchange, Rabbi David Wolpe, a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School, announced his resignation from the university’s antisemitism board.

 

“As of today I have resigned from the antisemitism advisory committee at Harvard,” Wolpe wrote on X. “Without rehashing all of the obvious reasons that have been endlessly adumbrated online, and with great respect for the members of the committee, the short explanation is that both events on campus and the painfully inadequate testimony reinforced the idea that I cannot make the sort of difference I had hoped.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.