US Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump told Jewish donors today that American universities would lose their accreditation and federal support because of what he called "anti-Semitic propaganda" if he is elected president, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
"Colleges will and must stop anti-Semitic propaganda or lose their accreditation and federal support," Trump said, speaking via video conference to a gathering of more than 1,000 donors from the ranks of the "Republican Jewish Coalition." in Las Vegas.
Student protests swept US college campuses this spring, with demonstrators denouncing Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip and demanding that authorities stop working with companies supporting the Jewish state.
Republicans said the protests showed that some Democrats are anti-Semites who support mayhem. The demonstrators themselves responded that the authorities were unfairly accusing them of anti-Semitism.
The Association of American Universities, which claims to represent nearly 69 leading American higher education institutions, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on the matter.
In the US, the federal government does not directly accredit universities, but plays an oversight role for the mostly private organizations that accredit colleges, according to Reuters.