As colleges grapple with how to recover from the Israel-Hamas controversies on their campuses, some have decided the best way forward is to try to back away from hot-button issues.   This week, Harvard University and Syracuse University both announced new policies saying school leadership will no longer be commenting on controversial political issues.  The move, which is drawing both derision and cheers, reflects a long-running debate over the role of leading academic institutions. “I think it's kind of a nice line in the sand,” said Beth Akers, a senior fellow focused on higher ..read more

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd said this weekend that her sister is backing former President Trump’s reelection bid following the guilty verdict in the New York hush money criminal trial. In a column published Saturday, Dowd said after the guilty verdict, she called her brother and her sister — both of whom, she said, are Republicans who had hoped for a Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley victory — to gauge whether Trump’s conviction had been a final straw for them. Dowd said she was surprised to hear that her sister was swayed in the other direction. “I wasn’t going to vote for Trump,” Maure ..read more

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C) on Sunday appeared to dodge directly answering if he would push former President Trump to reconsider a federal abortion ban if chosen as his vice president, given the two Republicans' differing stances on the issue. When asked on "Fox News Sunday" if he is willing to concede his position on a federal abortion ban or fight Trump, Scott instead waged attacks against Senate Democrats. "Well, Shannon, you're 100% right that the Democrats -- Republicans are all pro-life, honestly. And the Democrats in the Senate have already voted to allow for abortions up until the day of bi ..read more

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said it is a "terrible idea" to have former President Trump's sentencing just four days before the Republican's national convention in July. Sununu said on CNN's "State of the Union" that the jury "did their job" in the hush money case, which he described as "politically driven." He added that the verdict will be appealed before criticizing the sentencing date in the case. "This is not over by any stretch. And I think it's a real problem the fact that they're… going to commit sentencing right before the convention. That's a terrible idea. I mean, that is a t ..read more

Recent criticism of the Antisemitism Awareness Act by some in the far-right, while baseless, nonetheless highlights a fascinating and important shift in public opinion toward a centuries-old antisemitic slander.  An objection to the Antisemitism Awareness Act (H.R. 6090, recently passed by the House and under consideration in the Senate) is that the legislation could lead to Bible censorship because of New Testament passages describing Jesus being turned over to the Jews to be crucified.  The idea that Jews are to blame for the crucifixion of Jesus was commonly taught even into ..read more

Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said that there will be "strong appeals" to the hush money jury's verdict that found former President Trump guilty last week. A jury found Trump guilty on Thursday of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to a reimbursement made to his ex-fixer Michael Cohen for a payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about an alleged affair that the former president denies. Vance was asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether the prosecution's hush money case against the former president would be able to withstand an appeal. "We ..read more

Former President Trump and his allies have spent the hours since he was convicted in New York arguing the verdict will play out to his advantage in the end. They could easily be wrong. To be sure, nobody knows for certain what the political ramifications of the verdict will be, given that the nation is once again in uncharted waters. Trump is the first former president to be found guilty of a felony — 34 of them, in his case. Team Trump contends that the outcome has enraged his supporters — which is clearly true — and has prompted a surge in fundraising.  The Trump campaign ..read more

Tensions with China and Russia are higher now than at any point since the Cold War. From Ukraine to the Middle East to the South China Sea to the Korean peninsula, autocrats backed by nuclear weapons are challenging U.S. hegemony. So why are some U.S. politicians suggesting we should cut America’s nuclear arsenal? The U.S. only recently ended a 35-year modernization holiday. Defense officials have belatedly embarked on a nuclear modernization program to replace our Cold War-era strategic deterrent with new nuclear warheads, missiles, bombers and submarines. Most of these systems were ..read more

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) emphasized that there is a strong "contrast" between President Biden and former President Trump but did not say whether Democrats should be concerned that Trump's conviction in the hush money case will help him win reelection. "Well, this election will present a clear contrast between President Biden and Democrats in the House and the Senate who will always continue to put people over politics," Jeffries said on NBC's "Meet the Press" when asked how "concerned" Democrats should be that a guilty verdict may help Trump's campaign. "Extreme MAGA Repu ..read more

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) on Sunday suggested the timing of President Biden's reported executive order on border security is to blame on Republican inaction in Congress, pushing back on GOP criticism that the order is coming too late. "Well, look he [Biden] wanted to...he thought it would be validated by having Congress do it. Republicans aren't going to do it, so he's got to do something," Swalwell said when asked on NewsNation's "The Hill Sunday," if Biden's expected executive order on the border is "too late." Biden is reportedly expected to sign an executive order this week that will a ..read more