Former New York governor says Iranian state TV is airing college protests
George Pataki condemns the handling of antisemitic chaos by President Biden and Columbia's president on campus on 'The Story.'
New York State's last Republican governor condemned President Biden Thursday for his relative inaction on antisemitic protests enveloping college campuses in the Empire State and warned Iran is using images of the chaos as propaganda.
Former Gov. George Pataki, who left office at the end of 2006 upon the election of Eliot Spitzer, told Fox News the protests constitute "acts of anarchy" at this juncture and should have been halted on "day one."
"This is just disgusting and it shouldn't be tolerated. These are not acts of free speech or protest," he said on "The Story."
"University administrators should have stopped it. They didn't. When they didn't do it, since they're clearly breaking the law, the law enforcement — the NYPD in New York and others across the country — should have been called in right away."
Pataki, who earned his juris doctor from Columbia Law in 1970, said he was on campus during the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations. He recounted, however, helping lead the anti-protester faction.
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (Majid Saeedi/Getty)
"The longer it goes, the more propensity for violence there is, so it should have been shut down day one," he said of the unrest.
Near 137th Street and Broadway, protesters had taken down the American flag and raised the Palestinian banner at City College on Tuesday night. Pataki said that act should have been stopped cold, praising Democratic Mayor Eric Adams for condemning students who desecrated the Stars & Stripes in that way.
Adams told reporters he was offended by the act because his uncle died in service to the country and that he himself is very proud to be an American, saying, "We are not surrendering our way of life to anyone."
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry was seen re-raising Old Glory shortly after midnight Wednesday, as his officers restored order on campus.
Conversely, Pataki criticized President Biden's relative silence on the protests, as the White House had relied instead mostly on statements from spokesmen and a brief line the president offered to a reporter while commemorating Earth Day on federal parkland near MCB Quantico.
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Biden broke his silence on Thursday, condemning the violence that has broken out and saying that "order must prevail."
"We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent. The American people are heard. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country. We're a civil society and order must prevail," Biden said at the White House.
Pataki was not impressed by Biden's words and said Iranian state television has been airing footage of protests at Columbia, CCNY and other campuses around the United States.
"Al Jazeera has played them all across the Middle East," he added. "This hurts the peace process. This empowers the radicals like Hamas, and whether or not it's intentional by those protesters, it is hurting the prospect for peace. It's got to be stopped. They should be arrested."
"They should be prosecuted, and students should be expelled," Pataki added, as the New York Post reported Thursday an Iranian university is offering scholarships to anti-Israel students expelled for engaging in the unrest.
Shiraz University President Mohammad Moazzeni invited expelled students and terminated professors to transfer to his school, located in Fars, Iran, the paper reported, citing Iranian state-owned Press TV.
Meanwhile, at Tehran University, Prof. Foad Izadi reportedly called the students "our people" and claimed they would side with Iran in any direct conflict with the United States.