Stefanik goes viral among university presidents about anti-Semitism

At the time, Ms. Stefanik called her removal “a rite of passage and a badge of honor.”

Bill Kristol, the prominent anti-Trump Republican with whom Ms. Stefanik once worked, said he was in multiple text message chains with fellow Harvard alumni who shared a similar reaction when watching clips of the hearing. The general sentiment, he said, was: “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Elise Stefanik is doing a really good job of putting Claudine Gay on the map.”

The larger political issue at stake, Kristol said, was whether university administrators’ response to the anti-Semitism surging on campuses would alienate centrist Republicans who voted for President Biden in 2020.

“They see this and think, ‘All my suspicions have been confirmed,’” Mr. Kristol said. He said that for Americans concerned about Mr. Trump’s possible re-election, a moment when Ms. Stefanik sounded reasonable was a cause for concern.

On Thursday, Ms. Stefanik said she was proud to have struck a chord.

“I keep my head up,” she said. “On humanity’s most moral issue, the genocide of humanity, there should be no moral ambiguity.”

Representative Ritchie Torres, Democrat of New York, was among Democrats who conceded that Ms. Stefanik was right, but he said that did not change his view of her.

“Even a broken clock is right twice a day,” he said. “She remains an odious demagogue.”

He said her viral moment “was less about Stefanik and more about the blatant indifference to anti-Semitism among college presidents.” The cross-examination confirmed what we all know: that our college campuses lack moral common sense. If I were them, I would resign in disgrace.”

Stephanie Saul reporting contributed.