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Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
CNN panel goes off the rails with explosive debate over Holocaust deniers
A CNN panel descended into chaos during a debate about how President Trump's Education Secretary handled a question about colleges hiring Holocaust deniers as she was grilled by Congress. Members of the NewsNight panel got into a nasty flap Wednesday as co-host Abby Phillip referenced the comments made by Education Secretary Linda McMahon at a House committee hearing a day earlier. When asked by a Democratic congressman whether a university refusing to hire a Holocaust denier counts as forcing individuals to adhere to certain ideological views, McMahon remarked that 'there should be diversity of viewpoints relative to teachings and opinions on campuses.' Seizing on the comment, Phillip asked the panel: 'A diversity of viewpoints about Holocaust denying?' - leading to a war of words with her conservative co-host Scott Jennings. 'That's not what [McMahon] said, adding 'she was not answering what is a patently ridiculous question.' A fierce back-and-forth ensued, with Phillip and Jennings talking over each other as the battle dragged on. 'I and no Republican can take any lectures about anti-Semitism right now from Democrats,' Jennings argued at one point, insisting McMahon had given the 'same answer every Republican has had for time immemorial.' 'But why on earth would she not be able to answer that question?' Phillip pressed. 'Why would she even dodge the question? What is the answer?' Jennings again defended McMahon. 'She wasn't responding to [the question],' he said, leading Phillip to ask why he was 'so sure.' 'Because I'm a thinking human being who can see what a rational person would say to a ridiculous question,' Jennings replied. 'You were totally misconstruing this.' 'Scott, literally, we played it for the American people to see it,' Phillip snapped back. 'Yeah. And every single person's going to see it my way,' Jennings said. 'The answer ought to be "no," but it sounds like she didn't want to given an answer,' Phillip insisted. Jennings then accused the panel of purposely painting McMahon as a Holocaust denier. 'Everybody, everybody stop,' an annoyed Phillip remarked at that point. 'Everybody stop for a second. Excuse me, Scott. Nobody accused her of being a Holocaust denier.' Following some more crosstalk, Phillip said it was 'completely disingenuous' for Jennings to accuse the panel of boxing in McMahon, arguing it was 'very clear' he was attempting to deflect. 'Are you accusing us?' an incredulous Jennings then fired back, pointing to himself and panel guest Brad Todd, a Republican ad creator. Jennings then claimed that the congressman who grilled McMahon had purposely asked a 'disingenuous question' to produce a 'gotcha moment.' 'It is very telling that you are not able or willing to even entertain an answer,' Phillip said, before the show cut to commercial.
New York Times
5 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Rebuffing Trump, New York Refuses to Rescind Native American Mascot Ban
The New York State Education Department on Thursday sternly rejected the Trump administration's demand that the state reverse a ban on Native American mascots, questioning the federal government's interpretation of civil rights law. The White House had accused New York last week of illegal discrimination, objecting to the state's requirement that school districts banish mascots that appropriate Native American culture or risk losing funding. After parents in Massapequa, N.Y., protested the elimination of the district's decades-old 'Chiefs' nickname and logo, the Trump administration ordered the state to allow all districts to choose their preferred mascots. But Daniel Morton-Bentley, the deputy commissioner for legal affairs at the state education agency, said in a Thursday letter to the administration that the federal Education Department's finding was based on 'internally inconsistent arguments.' The Trump administration outlined its view of civil rights law in a 'Dear Colleague' letter to schools in February, taking issue with diversity programs that 'stigmatize students who belong to particular racial groups based on crude racial stereotypes.' New York's two-year-old ban on Native American mascots, which many tribes argue are often historically inaccurate and draw from stereotypes, complies with the goal outlined in the administration's earlier letter, Mr. Morton-Bentley argued. He pointed out that under previous administrations, the Education Department has required some districts to eliminate Native American mascots. It was not the first time that New York's education leaders had responded to the Trump administration with defiance. After the federal Education Department threatened in April to pull school funding from states that did not eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, New York was the first state to publicly repudiate the demand. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Arab News
29-05-2025
- General
- Arab News
Chinese students anxious and angry after Rubio vows to revoke visas
HONG KONG: Chinese students studying in the US are scrambling to figure out their futures after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that some students would have their visas revoked. The US will begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students, including those studying in 'critical fields,' and 'those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party,' according to the announcement. China is the second-largest country of origin for international students in the United States, behind only India. In the 2023-2024 school year, more than 270,000 international students were from China, making up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the US This is a 'new version of Chinese Exclusion Act,' said Linqin, a Chinese student at Johns Hopkins University, who asked to be identified only by his first name out of fear of retaliation. He was referring to a 19th-century law that prohibited Chinese from immigrating to the US and banned Chinese people already in the US from getting citizenship. He said Wednesday was the first time he thought about leaving the US after spending one third of his life here. Chinese international students are point of tension between US and China China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, called the US decision unreasonable. 'Such a politicized and discriminatory action lays bare the US lie that it upholds the so-called freedom and openness,' she said Thursday, adding that China has lodged a protest with the US The issue of Chinese students studying overseas has long been a point of tension in the bilateral relationship. During Trump's first term, in 2019, China's Ministry of Education warned students about visa issues in the US, with rising rejection rates and shortening of visas. Last year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry protested that a number of Chinese students have been unfairly interrogated and sent home upon arrival at US airports. Chinese state media has long hyped gun violence in the US and violent protests during the pandemic, and portrayed the US as a dangerous place that wasn't safe for its citizens. The tense bilateral relationship has also meant that some Chinese students are opting to study in the UK or other countries over the US after the pandemic. Zou Renge, a 27-year-old public policy master's student at the University of Chicago, said she had planned to take some time off and work in humanitarian aid programs abroad after graduating at the end of this year. But now, she will refrain from leaving the US and will look for jobs in the meantime. 'In a very uncertain environment, I'll try my best to find myself a solution,' she said. Hong Kong seeks to draw in talent amid uncertainty Some were eager to capitalize on the uncertainty facing international students in the US Hong Kong's leader John Lee told lawmakers on Thursday that the city would welcome any students who have been discriminated against by American policies to study in the city. 'The students who face unfair treatment can come from different countries beyond the US I think this is an opportunity for Hong Kong,' he said. 'We will work with our universities to provide the best support and assistance.' That followed a widely shared post by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) inviting Harvard students to 'continue their academic pursuits' there after Trump said he would revoke the university's ability to accept international students. Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to China in 1997, is a popular destination for mainland Chinese students to pursue their university degrees because of its international image and relative freedoms. The city launched a new visa scheme in 2022 to counter the exodus of expatriates and local professionals that occurred after Beijing imposed a national security law to quell dissent and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple Hong Kong universities including the Chinese University of Hong Kong, HKUST, and City University of Hong Kong said they would streamline or facilitate applications for international students coming from top universities in the US Will Kwong, managing director at Hong Kong's AAS Education Consultancy, said his company was helping students with offers from American universities to apply to other institutions, predominantly in Britain and Australia, so that they had alternative choices. US was known for diversity and this will hurt it, students say 'Having fewer international exchanges is definitely not good for America's development,' said Zhang Qi, a postdoctoral fellow in Beijing. 'This could be a positive change for China's development. More talented individuals may choose to stay at Tsinghua or Peking University, or with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other top institutions in China, which would benefit the development of domestic science and technology.' For many, there is little they can do as they now wait for the fallout from the move. Chen, an incoming Chinese student at Purdue University who only gave his last name out of concern for retaliation by the Trump administration, has been waiting anxiously for his visa approval. But he was also angry. Currently in China, he said this was the exact opposite of what he thought the US stood for. 'I was expecting freedom and tolerance. The US was known for its diversity which allows international students to fit in, but it is a pity to see such kind of change,' he said.
Bloomberg
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Trump's War on Harvard Is Good News for China
Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven't yet, sign up here. US President Donald Trump's move to effectively ban Harvard University from enrolling international students may seem like a problem contained to one elite institution.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oklahoma schools superintendent: Bibles will be in classrooms despite lack of funding
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma's top education official is insisting classrooms will all have Bibles by fall, even though the state's Republican-controlled Legislature has no plans to give him the $3 million he requested to buy the books. Whether that — or state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters' broader attempts to require schools to teach from the Bible — will come to fruition could depend on the outcome of multiple lawsuits pending in Oklahoma courts, one of which will soon have an important hearing. Without providing specifics, Walters said during a May 16 news conference that his agency has "already been exhausting multiple avenues" to acquire copies of the Bible. His remarks came days after legislative leaders and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced a deal for the fiscal year 2026 budget, dismissing Walters' $3 million request to buy more Bibles despite slightly increasing funding for the Oklahoma State Department of Education. More: Oklahoma to require schools to teach Trump's 2020 election conspiracy theories 'The Legislature can put the money there or not," Walters said. "We're going to have a Bible in every classroom this fall. So that's going to happen. So we're doing that. We've been very straightforward on how we're doing that.' Conservative lawmakers across the country have been leading an effort to spread religious teachings to public school classrooms, including introducing the Bible into reading lessons and requiring classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. In Louisiana, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed a law in June 2024 directing every public classroom to post the Ten Commandments. The law was later blocked by a federal judge who declared it unconstitutional, and was also challenged by parents and several civil rights groups. In November 2024, Texas officials proposed a curriculum incorporating teachings from the Bible in schools. It's not the first time. GOP leaders are calling for religion in public schools. Walters announced his Bible-teaching mandate for public schools in June 2024. Most large Oklahoma school districts have largely ignored the directive during the 2024-25 school year. Since then, Walters made multiple attempts to spend up to $3 million in taxpayer money from the 2025 fiscal year's budget to purchase so-called "Trump Bibles," endorsed by President Donald Trump, who has received fees for his endorsement. While Walters' attempts to spend millions of dollars on Bibles have met pushback, Walters' agency purchased 532 Trump Bibles for less than $25,000. Walters said on May 16 that he's had Oklahomans tell him they believe students need to learn how Christian values forged the country's history. "That is absolutely something that I will continue to fight, till every kid understands that the history of America includes the Bible, includes biblical principles," he said. "I mean, my goodness, you would have to walk around with a blindfold throughout American history to not see that." A lawsuit over the mandate and the attempt to purchase Bibles is pending in the Oklahoma Supreme Court. As part of that lawsuit, the state's highest civil court paused Walters' most recent effort to buy Bibles. After the court order, Walters partnered with country music artist Lee Greenwood on a nationwide campaign to encourage donations of Bibles to Oklahoma classrooms. Asked how successful that effort has been, Walters did not offer specifics, saying only "quite a few" Bibles have been donated to the agency. "This is what's amazing about our state and our country," Walters said. "Once we started to say, 'We want to make sure that our kids understand the role the Bible played in American history,' once we started to get this out, once I started to go and talk to folks, and again, it's Oklahoma parents. It's Oklahoma teachers that say: 'Look, we want this.' We have continued to see the generosity of individuals say, 'Hey, if they're not going to fund it, we'll pony up.'" Who is Ryan Walters? What to know about Oklahoma's controversial top educator Walters also has infused new Oklahoma social studies academic standards with dozens of references to the Bible and the Christian faith. Those standards took effect earlier this month, when the state Senate and House declined to take action on resolutions that would have disapproved them and sent them back to the state Board of Education. Those standards, which include 2020 election-denial language slipped in by Walters, are the subject of a lawsuit filed by a group of Oklahoma taxpayers represented by former state Attorney General Mike Hunter. The lawsuit focuses on the methods used by Walters to push the standards through during a February board meeting. The lawsuit also addresses public concerns voiced by three new board members who said they felt Walters deceived them by making last-minute additions to the standards without notifying them or the public. It contends that board members were not provided enough time to review the revised standards. They were urged against tabling a vote on the standards after Walters falsely told them a vote had to be taken that day to meet legislative deadlines, when the board had two more months to submit the standards to the Legislature for approval. Oklahoma County District Judge Brent Dishman has set a hearing on May 22 to consider a request for a temporary restraining order by the plaintiffs, which, if granted, would halt the implementation of the standards. The timing of that hearing resulted in the monthly state Board of Education meeting, which had been set for May 22, to be moved to May 21. The agenda for that meeting must be posted at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting. Contributing: Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma superintendent: Bibles will be in classrooms despite funding
