Foxx calls on Cardona to resign for not saying ‘from the river to the sea’ chant is antisemitic

House Education Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) is calling on Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to resign after he did not condemn a pro-Palestine chant that some consider antisemitic.  

Foxx highlighted reporting from Jewish Insider after Cardona met with reporters Tuesday. During the meeting, the outlet reported Cardona said calls for genocide are “not tolerable” but did not specify if he thought university administrators should consider the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” antisemitic.  

“Three months after Oct. 7 and the disgusting antisemitic demonstrations that followed, there is no excusing Secretary Cardona’s cowardly evasion of the antisemitic character of the phrase ‘from the river to the sea.’ Unfortunately, this is just the latest example in a long record of abject failure,” Foxx said.  

She also pointed to other recent actions by the Education Department, such as the rocky rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms that are leaving college students in limbo about their aid offerings.

“This nation deserves much better than bungling and deliberate misuse of taxpayer dollars. And Jewish students deserve to know that their Education secretary understands the hate they face and has the necessary courage and clarity to confront it. It is time for the secretary to resign,” she said.  

The Hill has reached out to the Education Department for comment.  

Cardona is the latest target for Republicans as they have locked in on antisemitism at college campuses amid the Israel-Hamas war, launching investigations into multiple universities they allege are creating a hostile environment for Jewish students.  

Republican lawmakers have held multiple hearings on campus antisemitism, with one eventually leading to the resignations of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania’s presidents.