Dem lawmaker blasts Harvard's free speech hypocrisy: 'Cancel culture is the dominant norm'

A Massachusetts Democrat said Wednesday that Harvard's new attempt to embrace free speech "rings hollow" as accusations that the elite university is protecting antisemitic speech continue to tarnish its image.

"Harvard ranks last out of 248 universities for its support of free speech. But when it comes to denouncing antisemitism, suddenly the university has anxieties about the First Amendment. It rings hollow." Rep. Jake Auchincloss, who represents the Bay State's fourth district, wrote in a joint statement with fellow Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton.

Both representatives condemned their alma mater with the statement posted on X last week, and Auchincloss doubled down during a Wednesday appearance on "FOX & Friends" where he called out the institution's previous attitudes toward free speech.

"Harvard University has spent the last five years with cancel culture as the dominant norm on its campus," he told co-anchor Steve Doocy.

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Representative Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat from Massachusetts, criticized Harvard University President Claudine Gay for her congressional testimony on antisemitism. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"Now that antisemitism has flared up, it has decided to embrace free speech principles, and it does ring hollow now. I hope that this is a fork in the road for the university. I hope that it now decides to double down on its commitment to free and open discourse, to pluralism, to viewpoint diversity, so that it can truly be a university that pursues truth, which is what is on its shield."

Auchincloss' comments came after Harvard President Claudine Gay faced intense backlash for her congressional testimony on the institution's handling of antisemitism.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., asked Gay, "At Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment?" Stefanik asked Gay specifically. 

"It can be, depending on the context," Gay responded, adding, "Antisemitic speech when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation – that is actionable conduct, and we do take action,"

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The response garnered widespread outrage, keeping a spotlight on the plague of antisemitism on university campuses.

Two days after the testimony, a campus event Rep. Auchincloss was scheduled to appear at was moved off-campus, sparking speculation the decision was made in response to Auchincloss' criticism of Gay.

"I don't know the details of why it got moved. I think it probably speaks more to the bureaucracy at Harvard's campus than it does to any intentional effort to cancel us," he told Doocy. 

"But what I think is more important here is that, unfortunately, this is distracting from the substance of the conversation that we had. This was Ro Khanna, a progressive Democrat, and me talking to a conservative student group about U.S. economic competition with China, and that is exactly what universities like Harvard should be incubating… these forums where people get together, they talk about complicated ideas. They do so from multiple different perspectives, and they engage thoughtfully, in-person, not on Twitter with one another."

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Harvard issued the following statement concerning the event relocation: "The student group listed as a sponsor neglected to follow the policies and procedures outlined in our Student Organization Resource Guide for hosting an event on campus, so an alternative location had to be identified."

Auchincloss said the issue is more widespread than Harvard, however, and alleged the issue starts with lack of education about the history of the Jewish people and the Middle East.

"Also it is an emerging and unfortunately powerful ideology that views the entire world as collapsed into a binary of oppressor versus oppressed, and every single issue needs to be viewed through that binary," he said. 

"It takes away all context and history and views everything as good versus evil, and that's not a very productive way to view the world, particularly for students who are trying to learn critical thinking."

Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard for additional comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

FOX News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.