Transcript

4.28.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
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Washington Post for this Monday, April twenty eighth. As reminder,
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Radio I is a reading service intended for people who
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are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
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to read printed material. Your reader for today is Rod Brotherton,
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and usually on Monday we start by reading Paul Prather's
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weekly column from Sunday's Herald Leader. But it looks like
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Paul had a vacation and he has no article from yesterday,
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so we'll start with a lead article on the Washington Post.
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Speaker 2: And our first story today.
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Speaker 1: Trump is softening his teariff talk, but the damage may
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already be done within fourteen months remaining before the United
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States two hundred and fiftieth birthday on July fourth, or
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twenty twenty six. Stacy Blake should be placing big orders
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with the Chinese factories that are supply of fireworks company
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in Saint Joseph, Missouri, but she's not, and she blames
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President Trump's tariffs. The same president who's making plans for
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a grand celebration of this nation's milestone has imposed sky
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high import duties that will make that Star Spangled festival tough.
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To pull off with trade war, causing US orders to
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dry up. Chinese firework factories have begun shutting down That
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threatens to disrupt the industry's production schedule, leading to serious shortages,
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said Blake, co owner of Schiitner Fireworks and Importing. We've
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got a huge problem ahead of us going into next year,
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said Blake, who was also president of the National Fireworks Association.
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Speaker 2: This season is.
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Speaker 1: When Chinese manufacturers would be manufacturing our products. Right now
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for twenty twenty six, for the two hundred and fiftieth,
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very little production is happening. They have halted it. The
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fireworks disruption looms. Even though the President spent much of
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last week so oftening his trade rhetoric, He said that
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a fair deal with China was possible and insisted that
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he had spoken with Chinese President Xijenping numerous times, which
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the Chinese government denied. Trade talks with dozens of other
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countries are going very well, Trump said, adding that he
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was very close to a deal with Japan. Yet, even
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as Trump signaled a willingness to seize his steepest tariffs,
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there were signs that his change of tone came too late.
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The economy has been damaged and at the threat to
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America's birthday celebration next to his shows it could take
2:48
some time to learn precisely what affects the experiment with
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import taxes has had. You can't put the toothpaste back
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in the tube. What's you squeeze that it's out? Said
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Constance Hunter, chief economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, a
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research firm. The delays effect of tariffs hang over the
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US economy that is powered through numerous issues in the
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past few years, but many key measures the economy reins strong.
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Unemployment is low, inflation has fallen dramatically from its post
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COVID highs and largely remains in check. Growth hastalled somewhat,
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but economists say it's probable that the nation's gross domestic
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product increase in the first quarter of this year. These
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upbeat indicators all have a key shortcoming, though they predate
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Trump's global tariffs and the disruption they've caused, and evidence
3:51
is mounting that tariffs have curtailed economic activity and will
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soon push prices higher, even if the effects will take
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time to be broadly felt. Crump's tariffs on goods from
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China has disrupted trans Pacific supply chains. US officials are
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alarmed by companies dwindling inventories of critical raw earth medals
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necessary for a wide range of economic activity. Beijing restricted
4:20
the medals this month. In the three weeks since the
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tariffs took effect, ocean container bookings from China to the
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US are down more than sixty percent, said Ryan Peterson,
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founder and CEO of Flexport, a global shipping company. Cargo
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carriers that bring Asian goods to the Port of Los Angeles,
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the nation's main Pacific gateway, have canceled twenty port calls
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next month, more than three times as many as last month,
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according to port data. The consequences will be empty shelves
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in US stores in a few weeks and COVID like
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shortages for consumers and for firms using Chinese products as
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intermediate goods, said Storston Slock, chief economists for Apollo Global Management.
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Fewer goods reaching American shores will mean higher prices on
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the goods that are in stores, as well as less
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work for dock workers and truck drivers. Significant layoffs and trucking,
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logistics and retail are likely as soon as May. Slock said,
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it feels like this slow motion wave that's coming at US,
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but not here yet, said Jason Furman, a Harvard University
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professor who serves as senior economist in the Obama administration.
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Manufacturers that rely on Chinese imports to make goods domestically
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are also showing signs of strain. The Philadelphia Fence Manufacturing
5:51
Survey showed one of the biggest monthly drops on record,
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surpassed only by the start of the twenty twenty pandemic
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and the twenty eight Great Recession. Business investments is also
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cratering in response to the uncertainty caused by the tariffs,
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say Furman and other economists, the US economy is pointed
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in a dangerous direction. The further the economy goes down
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this path, the higher the risk of a recession. Bill Adams,
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chief economists for Kamerica Bank, wrote in a client note
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on Friday. In the face of these projections, Trump has
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signaled a desire to reach an agreement with China to
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remove drastic economic restrictions. His emphasized that his advisors are
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negotiating with dozens of other countries too. But while Trump
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sounds newly eager to strike a deal with z the
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Chinese leader may be in no hurry to reciprocate. The
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President often claims to have a personal relationship with z
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whom he has called a friend. Secretary Scott Descent said
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last week and told reporters that it was both a
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blessing and a curse that the strongest relationship between the
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two nations is at the very top. Indeed, Trump's top
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down negotiating style, which emerged from his personal handling of
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real estate transactions, does not match Chinese diplomatic practice. Rather
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than embark on risky mono a mono bargaining, z MA
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insist that trade talks start with subordinate officials who can
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lay a foundation for the leaders eventual agreement. They have
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a different approach, said Myron Brilliant, a senior counsel at
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the DGA group their bottom up. Trump likes to work
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negotiations top down. This stylistic clash may make an early
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settlement of the US China trade clash unlikely, he said.
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Some progress has been made elsewhere. The US is advancing
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toward a deal within, said s Noir Prasad, a Cornell
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University professor who served in a senior role at the
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International Monetary Fund. The administration is pushing India to lower
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its tariffs on American agricultural products, a measure of the
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Indian government appears willing to entertain. Prosad said. The sen
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has projected optimism about reaching quick deals with partners such
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as South Korea, which could mitigate the economic harm from
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the tariffs. Trump's defenders say this approach reflects his negotiating
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style of making maximal demands and then gradually coming back
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to the table from a position of strength. The Trump technique,
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if you read his two books on negotiating, is to
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go way out and then gradually pull back. He never
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goes small and then pushes out, and he's done that
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his whole career, said Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally who
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served as Speaker of the House from nineteen ninety five
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through nineteen ninety nine. But it's unclear how Trump could
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pull back from the measures he has imposed before they
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damaged the economy. The biggest impact stems from the tariffs
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on imports from China, which are far steeper than even
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the drastic measures he promised. During his twenty twenty four
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presidential campaign, Trump ran on tariffs of sixty percent on
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China when Beijing retaliated against the president's first wave of
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import duties, the US head back goods from China now
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faced tariffs of one hundred and forty five percent, and
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China has retaliated with its own economic restrictions. The combination
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threatens to effectively choke off bilateral trade. They never wanted
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tariffs at high on China, said one person briefed on
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the White House's thinking, who, like some others quoted in
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this article, spoke on the condition of a nanimity to
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discuss private deliberations. Trump just went tit for tat with him.
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That's him as a person.
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Speaker 2: He wants to.
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Speaker 1: Treat them as they treat us. Even if Trump eventually
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does roll back duties on Chinese made goods to sixty percent,
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the overall US average terifreate would set sixteen percent, a
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sharp rize from the pre Taied War figure over around
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two point two percent.
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Speaker 2: According to a.
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Speaker 1: JP Morgan Chase analyst, that increase would be more than
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ten times what the US experienced during Trump's first term,
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and would represent a tax hike of nearly five hundred
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billion dollars on American importers. According to the Investment Bank,
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there also appear to be no easy solutions to Trump's
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tariffs on goods from the European Union and Japan, two
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of the United States' biggest trading partners. Japan is expected
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to resist U s reques quests to limit automobile exports,
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said two people familiar with the matter, speaking of course
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on the condition of anonymity, and EU Commissioner Vladis Dombrowski's
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told The Wall Street Journal the EU won't negotiate changes
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to its value added tax or agricultural subsidies. Compounding the
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challenge is the logistical difficulty of simultaneous talks with dozens
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of governments. Prasad, citing conversations with economic officials in four countries,
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said US trading partners are largely in the dark about
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key elements and potential deals, such as whom they are
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supposed to be talking to and the concessions the administration
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is seeking. One foreign diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
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expressed concern that any deal reached with Treasury or Commerce
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officials could be later undercut by Trump. Some trading partners
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are also wary of agreeing to the administration's demands only
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to see Trump impose additional tariffs on their businesses later
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this year. Meanwhile, Shiitner Fireworks is hoping the President reverts
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to his first term trade war stance. Most of all
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the fireworks that Americans purchase are personal, used and made
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in China. Three quarters of fire or technics featured in
12:27
more elaborate community celebrations are Chinese. In twenty nineteen, recognizing
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the lack of domestic production, Trump exempted the industry from
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its first China tariffs. This time, however, he has not
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granted similar waiver, leaving scores of small businesses facing crippling
12:48
extra costs. Importers who cannot afford one hundred and forty
12:53
five percent taxes have told their Chinese suppliers to freeze shipments,
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which could mean some consumer favorites for celebrating the Fourth
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of July holiday this year will be hard to find,
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said Blake shiit Er Fireworks co owner. Without immediate relief
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from Trump's tariffs, American importers will miss their turn in
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the Chinese production line for twenty twenty six. Fireworks favorites
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will soon enter their annual summer shutdown, and when they reopen,
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they are scheduled to fill European orders before producing what
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China consumers demand. It's very crucial that we start manufacturing
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in China right now, Blake said. And our next story,
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how religious public schools went from a long shot to
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the Supreme Court. The proposal was the most auditious Robert
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Franklin had ever seen during his four decades in education.
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The Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City to create the nation's
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first religious school, taxpayer funded public charter school. Franklin, who
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chaired a state board responsible for approving new charter schools,
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saw the idea as patently illegal and an obvious assault
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on the separation of church and state. Oklahoma would be
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directly sponsoring and paying for a school that promises to
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inject religion into every aspect of its teaching and expects
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students to adhere to its beliefs. He was sure the
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idea would quickly die, but this was a proposal aimed
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well beyond one tiny charter school for rural Oklahoma. It
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was part of a careful legal and political strategy aimed
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at affecting public and parochial education coast to coast. During
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a break in a meeting of the charter school board
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where the proposal was discussed, Franklin approached a church official
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who had helped craft the idea. I feel like this
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is so much bigger than what this board is all about.
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Franklin told him. Perhaps I'm just a pawn in this process.
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You are, the official replied, According to Franklin, We're going forward.
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We will go to the Supreme Court if we have to.
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Two years later, his prediction has come to pass. The
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nation's highest court will hear all arguments Wednesday over the
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constitutionality of Saint Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, a
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blockbuster case that could remake modern bedrock constitutional principles. The
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case was born in Oklahoma, but propelled forward by a
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religious liberty clinic at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
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The clinic as one of the most connected legal institutions
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in the country, with extensive financial and personal ties to
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members of the Supreme Court and a mission to break
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down barriers between church and state. A Notre Dame law
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professor had put forward with the idea that denying government
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funding from parochial charter schools would amount to anti religious discrimination.
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She based her position on recent decisions by Chief Justice
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John G. Roberts Jr. And the rest of the Court's
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conservative majority that boosted the role of religion in public life.
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A High Court victory for Saint Isidore based on the
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law Professor's premise would represent a major expansion of the
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use of taxpayer money for religious education and the clinic's
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biggest win to date. While school vouchers in some states
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helped pay for private religon schools, charter schools are full
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fledged public schools. They get the same funding as traditional
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public schools and must abide by the same non discrimination rules.
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Saint Isidor's would not only teach religion, but it would
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also make faith based hiring and curriculum decisions that have
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been strictly off limits for public institutions. Justin driver Or,
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a professor at Yale Law School and an expert on
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educational law, said it's difficult to overstate the magnitude of
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the case for our constitutional order. The goal posts in
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this constitutional area have moved incredibly far, incredibly fast. Driver
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said even a decade ago, the nation that states would
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be required to recognize religious charter schools was not at
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all a mainstream view. There is a certain sense of
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constitutional whiplash here. A year before the Saint Isidore proposal
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came before Franklin's board. Notre Dame law professor Nicole Garrett
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laid out a blueprint for making it a reality. Her
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name Garnett, a former law clerk That's Justice Clarence Thomas,
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had worked on the school choice issues since the nineteen
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nineties and was a prominent voice in the conservative legal movement.
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In a twenty twenty paper, she argued that the High
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Court had cracked the door to radically remaking American education
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by ruling in a Montana case that states may not
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exclude religious schools when offering subsidies or funding for private education.
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Garnett made a provocative argument the court's reasoning would ultimately
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require states to allow public charters schools that are religious
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in nature. If religious charter schools are constitutionally permissible, then justice,
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as well as the Constitution, demands that they must be permitted.
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Garnet wrote. The idea was a legal outlier. The forty
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five states that allow charter schools, plus the District of
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Columbia all require them to be non sectarian. Decisions by
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the Supreme Court since the nineteen sixties had erected a
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high wall between religion and schools. Garnet herself had doubted
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the constitutionality of direct public funding for religious charter schools
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as recently as twenty fourteen, writing that all state laws
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make clear that charter schools are privately operated public schools,
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so a religious public charter school could not receive government
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money without changes to statutes. But in education and other spheres,
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the Roberts Court has bolstered religious liberty and rulings that
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have become one of the most significant legacies. First, in
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twenty seventeen, the Court found that Missouri could not exclude
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a religious preschool from a playground resurfacing program. Then came
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the twenty twenty Montana case, requiring states that aid private
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schools to include some faith based ones in that funding.
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In twenty twenty two, the Court would require Maine to
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let parents use vouchers for religious schools, and it would
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let a high school football coach prey on the school
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field in a separate case. This term, the Court appears
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likely decide with a group of parents who want to
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pull their children from public school lessons with LGBTQ plus
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theme the books for religious reasons. Each of the rulings
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recently relied on an expansive view of the First Amendment's
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free exercise clause, which prohibits the government from interfering with
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the rights of individuals to practice religion. Critics argue the
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rulings have dangerously diminished the First Amendment's counterpoint, the establishment Clause,
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which prohibits the government from establishing an official religion or
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favoring certain faiths. Garnet's paper set an organization seeking to
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open a religious charter school might challenge state rules on
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the same free exercise grounds that had been so successful
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in the earlier cases. In contrast to her twenty fourteen position,
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Garnet asserted religious public charter schools should be considered private
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entities so they could receive public money. It is likely
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that lawsuits challenging charter school laws will be filed in
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some states in the near future, she wrote. Officials with
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the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City also had been following the
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High Court's jurisprudence. Its general counsel knew Garnet and her scholarship.
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Catholic school officials had concluded during the pandemic that online
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learning could be successful for some children. The combination sparked
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the idea of creating an online only religious public charter
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school to teach rural Catholics who did not have access
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to brick and mortar parochial schools, as well as students
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with special needs. In twenty twenty one, the archdiocese asked
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Garrett for help. Garnett said the case would be a
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good fit for the newly created Religious Liberty Clinic at
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Notre Dame's Law School, established the previous year. The clinic
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and archdiocese tested the waters for Saint Isidore and a
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seven page letter to Franklin, the charter school board chairman.
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He was surprised to see it included thirty two foot notes,
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citations to recent Supreme Court rulings, and legal arguments about
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the First Amendment that Garnett had made in her earlier paper. Typically,
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you get a proposal from a vendor that is a
23:28
page and a half that says, this is who we are,
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this is what we want to do, this is why
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we would like to run a charter school.
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Speaker 2: He said.
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Speaker 1: It won't pass legal muster. Franklin told the Catholic officials
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they asked him to request a legal opinion from Oklahoma
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Attorney General John M. O'Connor. Franklin agreed, confident that the
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Attorney general would share his constitutional concerns.
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Speaker 2: He was wrong.
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Speaker 1: In December of twenty twenty two, weeks before leaving office,
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O'Connor back Saint Isodore's arguing in an opinion that Oklahoma's
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law requiring charter schools be non sectarian was likely to
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be unconstitutional based on the recent Supreme Court cases. Franklin
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and Garnett said they were both surprised, but they weren't
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the only ones. Republican genter Drummond had defeated O'Connor and
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the GOP primary for Attorney General in twenty twenty two
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and was preparing to take office when O'Connor's opinion was issued.
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Both men are religious Christians, but Drummond argued that there
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was an important difference between the government allowing vouchers to
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fund religious schools and the state creating a religious school.
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He feared the latter could open the door to the
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government imposing rules on parochial schools that run counter to
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their beliefs and clear the way for schools run by
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radical Islamists or the Church of Satan, and he thought
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Oklahoma was being used by outside interest to push an
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agenda that ran counter state law as well as the
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state and US constitutions. We're the perfect target where a
25:19
small state by population were a very bright red state,
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he said in an interview. They had the perfect trilogy
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of the governor, the school superintendent, and the attorney general.
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In February of twenty twenty three, Drummond replaced O'Connor's opinion
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with his own analysis that the school's application was unconstitutional.
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Shortly before he sent out his letter, he spoke with
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Garnett at the archdiocese's request. He recalled her being flummoxed
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that he would take the step, telling him his legal
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position was in direct violation of the three cases in
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which the Supreme Court had steadily opened more and more
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public funding for religious schools in recent years. Her plea
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was please readdress this. This is the state of Oklahoma
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discriminating against Saint Isidore's, Drummond recalled, I said, respectfully, that
26:18
is not it. They spoke for about thirty minutes, he said,
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each failing to convince the other. But the Catholic Church
26:26
and the Legal Clinic had other powerful backers in the state,
26:29
which has become one of the nation's foremost laboratories for
26:33
pushing the boundaries of religious and religion and public schools.
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In deciding to represent Saint Isidor's, Notre Dame had considered
26:41
the state's politics and what sort of opposition they might
26:45
run into, According to a person familiar with the church's
26:47
thinking on the matter, who spoke on the condition of
26:51
anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case,
26:56
Republican Governor Kevin Stitt supports the create of the school,
27:01
as does Ryan Walters, the state school superintendent, who has
27:05
drawn national attention for trying to put Bibles in classrooms
27:08
and incorporate the Ten Commandments into school curriculums, among other proposals.
27:14
In June of twenty twenty three, two days before the
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Virtual Charter School Board was set to vote on Saint
27:19
Isidore's application, Oklahoma's Republican House Speaker replaced a charter school
27:24
board member expected to vote against the proposal to create
27:29
Saint Isidor's with an Oklahoma City businessman, Brian Bobek. Franklin,
27:35
the board chair, publicly called for Bobuk to rescue recuse
27:39
himself from the high profile decision, arguing that his last
27:43
minute appointment created the appearance of political manipulation, and that
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Bobek had not been on the board long enough to
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hear all the arguments about the proposed school. Boebik declined
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and cast the deciding vote in the three to two
27:58
decisions ratifying the school, with Franklin in the minority. The
28:03
following month, the ACLU, the American United for Separations of
28:07
Church and State, and others issued and sued on behalf
28:11
of a group of Oklahoma residents asking for Saint Isidore's
28:15
approval to be rescinded. They argued that their tax dollars
28:19
should not go to a school that might discriminate against
28:22
gay students and those of other faiths. In its application,
28:26
the school had said all students are welcome, but that
28:28
they were expected to adhere.
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Speaker 2: To the school's beliefs and religious mission.
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Speaker 1: Public schools would become Sunday schools, said Rachel Laser, chief
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executive of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
28:42
The religious freedom of religious minorities and the non religious
28:46
would be imperiled. Saint Isidore's backers had expected liberal groups
28:51
would object to religious charter schools, but what happened next
28:54
came as a surprise, Drummond filed his own suit against
28:58
the Virtual Charter Schools Board, arguing the contract it signed
29:02
with Saint isit Or violated the state's constitution. That is
29:05
the case being argued Wednesday. That obviously changed everything, said
29:10
the person familiar with church, thinking everyone expects a right
29:14
left fight, and suddenly it's a right right fight. The
29:18
Oklahoma Supreme Court sided with Drummond, ruling the virtual charter
29:22
school must be rescinded and the Saint Isidore's contract because
29:28
the school violated the First Amendments Establishment Clause, Oklahoma law
29:32
and the state Constitution. Are we being used as a
29:36
test case? It sure looks like it, Oklahoma Justice von
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Krueger said. During Orgel arguments, She suggested that the dismantling
29:45
of the wall between church and state would have far
29:47
reaching consequences. When the wall comes down, it's Katie bar
29:51
theador everyone would be would be affected. That high stakes
29:58
proposition now goes before the sup Court. People on both
30:02
sides of the case say the key question will be
30:05
whether charter schools are fundamentally private operators are part of
30:09
the public school system. If private religious practice will probably
30:15
be viewed as constitutional. If public it would be banned.
30:21
The state has enlisted private entities to run schools and
30:25
given public funds to them, Garnett said in an interview,
30:28
referring to the private organizations that run most charter schools,
30:33
and it has said the only kind of pluralism that
30:37
is off the table is religious pluralism. Opponents will argue
30:43
the opposite. Our founders believed that when the state acts,
30:48
it starts picking winners and losers in a religious area.
30:52
Our religious liberties are compromised, said Drummond, who will be
30:56
the second chair for the Oklahoma on Wednesday. For us
31:00
to have the liberty to freely exercise religion or not,
31:04
we must maintain a separation between the state action and religion.
31:09
To go down this road jeopardizes religious liberty. Seven of
31:14
the nine justices were raised Catholic and six attended Catholic
31:21
high schools. The courts tied Notre Dame in Garnet's law
31:25
clinic or substantial, prompting court watchdogs to call for some
31:29
of the justices not to.
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Speaker 2: Hear the case.
31:33
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty one, Notre Dame President paid Justice Clarence
31:38
Thomas almost twenty thousand dollars to give a speech. In
31:41
twenty twenty two, an affiliate of the clinic flew Justice
31:45
Samuel A. Alito Junior to Rome for a four day
31:48
trip to give a speech. In twenty twenty two and
31:51
twenty three, Notre Dame's Law school paid Justice Bridam Kavanaugh
31:56
to speak and teach.
31:57
Speaker 2: In Rome and London.
32:00
Speaker 1: The Court's ethics Code allows justices to accept these opportunities
32:04
from universities, which are seen as helping spread knowledge about
32:07
the law and the Court. Many other prestigious schools have
32:11
similarly paid the justices for educational engagements and campuses and abroad,
32:17
although by one measure Notre Dame has spent the most.
32:22
The only justice planning to set out the case is
32:25
Amy Coney Barrett, a former Notre Dame law professor who
32:30
is close friends with Garnett. In twenty twenty, as Barrett
32:34
was leaving her job at the university to join the
32:36
High Court, a staffer from the Religious Liberties Clinic purchased
32:41
Barrett's Indiana home. Barrett's recusal means only eight justices will
32:47
vote on the legality of Saint Isidore's The three Liberals
32:51
are widely expected to see the court as unconstitutional. A
32:55
four to four tie would keep the state's Supreme court
32:59
rejection of the school in place. Church officials say they
33:04
are excited about the opening and their new virtual school
33:07
in the fall of twenty twenty six. That has always
33:10
been their goal, they say, But for opponents like Robert Franklin,
33:15
it was clear from the start that far more is
33:19
at state. This was never really about two or three
33:23
hundred children in the state of Oklahoma in a far
33:26
flung rural setting who wanted a virtual Catholic education. He said,
33:32
this is a test case from the beginning and the
33:38
next story. Many Jews say Trump is politicizing the fight
33:41
against anti Semitism. The Trump administration declared April fourteenth that
33:49
the harassment of Jewish students isn't untolerable, as it suspended
33:54
two point two billion dollars in grants to Harvard University.
33:59
Thesident Alan Garber fired back Monday that as a Jew
34:04
and as an American, he is well aware of rising
34:07
anti semitism, but the defunding Harvard there is no solution.
34:12
The Trump administration has frequently cited anti semitism to justify
34:17
its decisions to slash funding for elite universities, deport foreign
34:21
students and accuses of anti Jewish sentiment, and seek more
34:25
control over what American schools and universities teach. Some Jewish
34:30
leaders welcome President Trump's efforts as the most aggressive fight
34:34
against anti Jewish bigotry in American history, but others worry
34:40
that Trump is politicizing the fight against anti Semitism by
34:44
using it to promote his agenda, potentially hurting Jews in
34:48
the long run, especially as Trump dismantles other anti discrimination efforts.
34:55
On the state level, Legislators, mostly Republicans, are also pressing
35:01
ahead with bills that include a much debated definition of
35:04
anti Semitism, one that critics say chills legitimate criticism of Israel.
35:11
The dispute has exacerbated long running tensions between liberal and
35:16
conservative Jews, who increasingly diverge in their views of the
35:20
Israeli government, in some cases, Israel itself, as well as
35:25
which side of the political divide best represents their values
35:29
and interests. Anti Semitism is real, and it requires robust,
35:35
constructive solutions, said Amy Spittelnik, CEO of the Jewish Council.
35:42
Speaker 2: Of Public Affairs.
35:43
Speaker 1: What's happening now, though, is exploiting the Jewish communities legitimate
35:47
and real concerns about anti Semitism to undermine the rule
35:51
of law, new process, educational institutions, and our democracy. Morton Klein,
36:00
national president of the Zionist Organization of America, a conservative group, disagreed,
36:06
saying Trump is enforcing federal anti discrimination law as presidents
36:11
before him should have done. We are deeply grateful to
36:16
President Trump, Klein said, I assure you these groups that
36:19
opposed Trump here, if those demonstrators were condemning blacks and
36:24
calling them horrific names, are calling Muslims or gay people
36:27
terrible names, those same people would say we have to
36:31
protect the lives of targeted minorities and would be supporting
36:35
Trump's work, he said. The turmoil began on October seventh,
36:41
twenty twenty three, when Hamas militants surged across the guys
36:46
of border and murdered about twelve hundred people, taking an
36:50
additional two hundred and fifty one hostage. Israel responded with
36:55
a punishing military offensive that has killed more than fifty
36:58
thousand Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and prompted major protests in.
37:03
Speaker 2: The United States.
37:05
Speaker 1: Anti Semitic acts surged in the US as well, and
37:09
the White House said Trump is responding appropriately to that.
37:13
If combating anti Semitism is controversial to President Trump's critics,
37:20
their derangement has reached new lows, said the White House
37:25
spokesman Harrison Fields. No leader has been a stronger ally
37:30
to the Jewish people than President Trump. His administration is
37:34
fully committed to enforcing law and order, protecting civil rights,
37:39
and ensuring pro Hamas radicals face the full weight of
37:42
the law in our unwavering fight against anti Semitism. The
37:48
Trump Harvard dispute has received much of the attention, but
37:52
the broader battle shows no signs of slowing. The administration
37:57
is targeted of the universities from Princeton to Northwestern the
38:01
same way, and is continuing its crackdown on immigrants suspected
38:06
of anti Semitic statements. While Trump and his adversaries fighted
38:12
out on the national level, a quieter debate is playing
38:15
out in half a dozen conservative states, where bills against
38:19
anti Semitism have been offered in recent months. This state
38:24
level push has been underway for years, but it accelerated
38:29
after the October seventh attacks and has been turbocharged by
38:33
Trump's presidency, said Jeremy ben Ami, president of J Street,
38:38
a liberal pro Israeli group. In Missouri, Republican state Representative
38:46
George Jrusa has sponsored a measure requiring public schools and
38:50
universities to adopt policies against anti Semitism. The issue is
38:56
personal for Rusa, whose mother survived the Holocaust and who
39:01
had two grandparents killed at Auschwitz. When I grew up
39:06
in Czechoslovakia, my mother suppressed our Jewish heritage. She continued
39:11
suffering from nightmares of being in a concentration camp. Erusa
39:16
said those nightmares stopped. She moved to the US because
39:20
it had so little anti semitism, he said, and his
39:23
bill is intended to help keep it that way. A
39:27
flash point, as so often these days, and especially since
39:31
October seventh, is the question of when criticism of Israel
39:36
becomes anti semitism. Jerusa's bill adopts the definition of anti
39:41
semitism that includes such examples as applying double standards to
39:46
Israel or calling it racist. Missouri State Representative Elizabeth Fuchs,
39:51
a Democrat, said such language risk chilling free speech and
39:56
punishing legitimate criticism of Israel. It changed is how college
40:01
campuses are interpreting speech.
40:03
Speaker 2: Fuchs said.
40:04
Speaker 1: It shifts and changes the definition of anti semitism, conflating
40:09
the real concerns about anti Semitism with conversation about the
40:14
war and what has been happening in Palestine. After the
40:18
October seventh massacre, Roses bill passed the GOP dominated Missouri
40:24
House one hundred and eight to ten. The vote was bipartisan,
40:29
but most of the opposition came from Democrats. It now
40:33
moves to the state Senate. Rusa said he is a
40:37
big proponent of free speech and that his bill is
40:39
designed to distinguish between rhetoric at least at a rally,
40:43
and assaults aimed at an individual. When it's Jewish students
40:48
get attacked verbally or physically because they are Jewish. That
40:54
is what we're driving at, he said, it's telling a
40:57
Jewish student you should go back to Poland. The definition
41:03
of anti Semitism in Rusa's bill, originally crafted in twenty
41:07
sixteen by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, is widely used
41:12
and increasingly controversial. Israel can be criticized like any other
41:18
country its is, but targeting it as a Jewish collectively
41:23
is anti submitic. The definition proves examples of language that
41:27
crosses the line, such as comparing Israel to the Nazis
41:31
or blaming all Jews for Israel's actions. Those examples are
41:36
being incorporated into many of the new state laws. Kenneth Stern,
41:41
the lead drafter of the IHRIA definition, strongly opposes codifying
41:47
the examples in this way, saying they were intended only
41:51
as guidance and that enshrining them in law violates the
41:55
First Amendment by penalizing opinions on Israel. I think it's
42:00
bad policy, and as a lawyer, I think it's an
42:04
unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, sirn said. He added, I am a
42:09
Zionist and Israel is important to me, but there are
42:13
young Jews whose Judaism leads them to a different point
42:16
of view. The IHR definition has many defenders who say
42:22
it pierces the armor of bigots who have taken to
42:25
attacking Israel as an acceptable way to go after Jews.
42:31
Criticizing Israel legitimately is not anti Semitism under its definition.
42:36
Za's client said, but if you start comparing Israel to
42:42
Nazis and saying they are penetrating genocide and perpetuating it
42:47
in massacres, then you are crossing the line into anti semitism.
42:52
Congress has not written THEHR definition into US law, despite
42:57
repeated proposals to do so, but Trump signed an executive
43:02
order in twenty nineteen during his first term, ordering government
43:05
agencies to consider adopting it. Seven states have recently considered
43:11
or adopted measures like Missouris, all of them with conservative
43:15
and Republican dominated legislatures, though some have democratic governors. The
43:20
dissenters are usually Democrats, but the bills tend to have
43:24
bipartisan support. A group called the Combat Anti Semitism Movement
43:30
has been encouraging state legislatures to pass anti semitism bills,
43:35
working with legislators testifying the bill's favor, touting them on
43:39
its website.
43:40
Speaker 2: KAM was founded in.
43:41
Speaker 1: Twenty nineteen, and its advisory board is chaired by Natan Sharansky,
43:46
a former Soviet Refusenik and hardline Israeli politician. Sacho Reichmann,
43:53
kam's chief executive said anti Jewish acts must be countered
43:57
at every level of government. The threat is real, it
44:01
is happening, It is happening every day, and it's happening
44:04
in schools and synagogues. He said, every level of society
44:08
has its responsibility. Rosa, the Missouri legislator, said he tweaked
44:13
the bill's language to stress that it was not aimed
44:17
at squelching free expression. We wanted to make sure it
44:21
was about behavior and make sure people understood that in
44:24
no way did we want to interfere with free speech,
44:27
rus said ben Ami. The j Street presidents concerned about
44:31
the free speech ramifications of many of the proposals. There
44:36
is a troubling, very troubling pattern to codify and a
44:39
state law and local law, as well as an attempt
44:41
at the federal level the definition of anti semitism that
44:44
includes criticism of Israeli government actions and policies that would
44:49
have the effect of not simply chilling speech, but criminalizing it.
44:53
Minami said the bill's opponents are not solely level Democrats.
44:58
In Oklahoma, Senative state Senator Dusty Devers, a Christian pastor,
45:04
objected that the examples of anti Semitism cited in his
45:08
state's legislation include asserting that Jews killed Jesus. The Jews
45:15
of the time did play a role in Jesus's death.
45:17
Divers asserted citing scriptures, and he said pastors should be
45:22
able to say so while discouraging anti Semitism is a
45:26
worthy cause. The definition would instruct state entities to treat
45:30
as bigoted the historical facts and biblical teachings surrounding the
45:35
death of Jesus.
45:36
Speaker 2: Devers said in the floor speech.
45:39
Speaker 1: To Fuchs, Missouri legislator, the state debates are part of
45:43
a pattern unfolding on the national level, broad or reckless
45:47
attacks on anti Semitism that target legitimate criticism of Israel.
45:52
There is a connection between what is happening at the
45:55
federal level with Trump's executive orders and what's happening here
45:58
in Missouri. Fuchs said, you want to see what's happening
46:02
in the new your state, We're going to show you first.
46:06
Many Jewish groups are struggling to find the right message
46:08
for the movement. Julie Raymond, Managing director of Policy and
46:13
political Affairs at the American Jewish Committee, said Trump deserves
46:17
credit for spotlighting anti Semitism, but the AJAC also criticized
46:23
the broad, sweeping, and devastating cuts universities are facing as
46:27
a result of his actions. Republicans and Democrats, Raymond said,
46:33
are each quick to see anti Semitism in their opponents,
46:38
but slow to see it and their supporters. Ideally, she
46:41
said the administration can find a way to target not
46:44
just the left anti Zionist anti semitism that has become
46:49
this new dangerous reality, but also recognized the dangers of
46:53
neo Nazi fascist anti semitism. Trump has a Jewish son
46:58
in law, Jared Kushner, and his daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism,
47:04
but critics say he has a history of anti Semitic
47:07
comments associations that cast doubt on the sincerity of his
47:12
anti semitism campaign. In September, Trump told the gathering of
47:17
Conservative Jews, if I don't win this election, the Jewish
47:21
people would have a lot to do with the loss.
47:24
In twenty seventeen, he said there were very fine people
47:27
on both sides of a Virginia rally that included an
47:30
anti Semitic chance. In November of twenty twenty two, Trump
47:34
had dinner with Rapper Yee formerly known as Kanye West,
47:39
who has made anti Jewish remarks, and Nick Fuentes, an
47:44
anti semit and white nationalist. Trump later said he did
47:49
not know Fuente's background. Ed Martin Trump's interim us attorney
47:54
in the District of Columbia has praised a Nazi sympaviser.
47:59
I take no comfort and their so called concerned about
48:02
anti Semitism, said Wesleyan University President Michael Roth. I find
48:07
it shocking that so many of my co religionists are
48:11
happy to see enemies of Israel punished, even if the
48:15
ways they're punished are extra legal. For the Trump allies,
48:19
many of whom are vicious, proud anti Semites, this sudden
48:24
Judeophilia will be short lived. Representative Jerry Nadler, Democrat of
48:30
New York, agreed that schools such as Columbia University may
48:34
have seen anti semitism on campus as the gas of
48:37
war has unfolded, but he said slashing their research funds
48:42
makes little sense. As a response. Let's assume there is
48:47
anti semitism. How does taking hundreds of millions of dollars
48:51
from medical research help that, Nadler said, because there is
48:55
anti semitism at Columbia, we're going to say more people
48:59
should die of camp answer, more people should get Alzheimer's.
49:03
Muslim and Arab leaders too, say they're deeply concerned about
49:08
Trump's campaign, while as Alazat, CEO of Emerge, a group
49:14
that mobilizes Muslim voters, said the President is falsely equating
49:18
support for Palestinians with anti Semitism. It's protected by First
49:24
Amendment and it's not anti semitism. At said, we strongly
49:29
stand against the anti semitism in all forms of hate,
49:32
but this is not doing the Jewish community any favors.
49:36
It is miscueuing and misusing a very important fight to
49:40
achieve other objectives. Nihada Whi, executive director of the Council
49:46
of American Islamic Relations, added that it doesn't take a
49:49
genius to see that anti Semitism is a real problem,
49:53
but that Trump is using it as a pretext to
49:56
target Muslims. You cannot use bigotry to fight bigotry, a
50:00
Wide said, the tactic of using Islamophobia to fight anti
50:04
Semitism as a non starter. Anti Semitism and Islamophobia are
50:09
two faces of the same coin. In my view, the
50:13
US Jewish community has rarely faced the level of internal
50:18
turmoil it is now confronting. Even before the October seventh attacks,
50:23
American Jews were increasingly divided over Israel. As Prime Minister
50:27
Benjamin Netanyahu preserved pursued hard right policies that fitted many
50:32
Jews traditional liberalism against their attachment to the world's only
50:37
Jewish state. That tension escalated after the Hermas murderous attacks
50:43
in Israel's fierce response, as some younger Jews cited openly
50:47
with Palestinian activists. Trump's victory added more fuel as he
50:52
proclaimed his determination to protect the Jewish community that supported
50:56
his opponent, Vice President Harris seventy eight percent twenty two.
51:01
It put Jews in a very difficult position, said Jeff Sovereign,
51:05
whose father Michael Sovereign, was Columbia's first Jewish president in
51:09
the nineteen eighties.
51:11
Speaker 2: It's divisive among Jews.
51:13
Speaker 1: It also makes it somewhat harder to defend action against
51:15
anti Semitism when your troubled by what is being done
51:19
to attack anti Semitism. Some liberals, including Jay Streets Ben Amy,
51:25
contend that leading Jewish groups have been too slow to
51:28
condemned Trump's repressive actions taken in their name. There have
51:32
been a few voices and an occasional murmur, but like
51:37
too many other segments of our society, like corporate America
51:40
and media companies or law firms, in some cases university presidents.
51:45
Too many people bending at the knee rather than standing
51:49
up and fighting back, than Amy said. On April first,
51:53
Washington Post columnist met By took aim at the Anti
51:56
Defamation League, a leading group combating anti Senmatism, and its
52:00
leader Jonathan Greenblatt, for remaining silent during the Trump administration's
52:05
thuggish roundup of pro Palestinian activists. Two days later, green
52:10
Blatt wrote a piece denouncing the mid administration's practice, as
52:14
part of its anti Semitism campaign, of targeting foreign nationals
52:18
without due process. It was shocking to see the images
52:21
of plain clothes officers stealing people off the streets, an
52:25
active rendition that seemed straight out of a movie, he wrote.
52:29
Green BLAT's police appeared in an opinion column on the
52:32
e Jewish Philanthropy website rather than as an official statement
52:37
of the ADL. Efforts to reach green Blat through the
52:41
ADL were unsuccessful. A growing number of Jewish organizations are
52:45
now public opposing Trump's tactics taken in the name of
52:49
protecting their rights. On April fifteenth, a coalition of ten
52:53
organizations representing three of Judaism's for denominations, issued a statement
53:00
saying that while anti Semitism is an urgent problem, these
53:04
actions do not make Jews or any community safer. Rather,
53:09
they only make us less safe. Any other groups say
53:14
Trump's focus on anti Semitism is long overdue. In the
53:18
Biden administration, second Gentleman Doug M. Hoff spirated a campaign
53:24
against anti Jewish discrimination, but Trump has made a bigger
53:28
made it a bigger part of his presidency. It is
53:31
fair to say this is a three thousand year old
53:34
problem and we don't.
53:36
Speaker 2: Know what the solutions are.
53:37
Speaker 1: Raymond said, it's easy to identify something as not a
53:41
silver bullet, but until we find whatever the silver bullet is,
53:46
we have to keep trying. And finally, today, Africa was
53:51
vital to Francis's papacy and will shape the church's future.
53:57
Both Frances ministered to the poor in Kenya, and he
54:00
kissed the feet of South Sudan's feuding rulers and a
54:02
flea for peace. He urged Christians and Muslims to reconcile
54:07
in the Central African Republic and condemn the exploitation of
54:11
natural resources and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and he
54:15
elevated African church leaders who will help choose his successor
54:20
shape the future of the church. During Francis' twelve year papacy,
54:25
the number of African Catholics jumped from about one hundred
54:28
and seventy six million to two hundred and eighty one million,
54:32
according to Vatican statistics, even his church attended stagnated or
54:37
declined in other parts of the world. Today, one in
54:42
five of the world's Catholics live on the continent. Africa
54:46
is now the hope of the Church. The seat of
54:49
faith is sprouting here, far more than in the western world,
54:52
said Stephen Aidou, a parish priest in northwest Nigeria. We
54:57
used to have white Western missionaries coming here to teach
54:59
us about religion. Now Africans are going to evangelize the world.
55:06
Congo has the highest number of baptized Catholics globally and
55:10
nearly fifty five million, followed by Nigeria with thirty five million.
55:14
Africa and Asia are the only regions where the number
55:18
of priests is increasing the Vatican, says Johnstone Kippelaka, a
55:24
twenty five year old writer and practicing Catholic in the
55:26
Nigerian city of Jos, say that young Africans are already
55:30
actively shaping the future of the church, sometimes in unexpected ways.
55:36
He said. Hundreds of Nigerians gathered daily on x to
55:40
pray the Rosary together. Totholicism and Nigeria, he said, is
55:44
characterized by its intensity. A Georgetown University study found ninety
55:49
four percent of the country's Catholics attend Mass at least
55:52
once a week. This is the direction the church is headed,
55:56
Kippelaka said, a one way relationship for Apple receives, but
56:01
a reciprocal one where Africa contributes spiritually, intellectually and prophetically.
56:08
In a reflection of the church's demographic shifts, Francis nominated
56:12
a historically diverse pool of cardinals. Eighteen of the one
56:16
hundred and thirty five eligible vote in the upcoming conclave
56:19
are from Africa, prompting speculation there could be an African
56:25
pontiff for the first time in modern history. No matter
56:29
who is selected, this region will be pivotal in determining
56:33
the direction of the faith. The church here tends to
56:36
be substantially more conservative than other parts of the world,
56:40
and leaders from the continent clashed to openly with France's
56:43
in recent years, particularly after he had issued guidance in
56:47
late twenty twenty three that priests could offer blessings to
56:51
same sex couples. Regional cathol leaders released to public letters
56:56
saying there would be no blessings for same sex couples
56:59
in Africa's church is because such unions are contrary to
57:02
the will of God and intrinsically disordered. The letter was
57:07
a spearhead by Cardinal Friederland Ambungo. Vesungu was the Archbishop
57:12
of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
57:16
among those who could possibly succeed Francis. And this concludes
57:22
the reading of the Washington Post for today, Monday, April
57:25
twenty eight. Your reader for today has been Rod Brotherton.
57:29
If any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning the program, please
57:33
feel free to call us A five nine four two
57:35
two sixty three ninety. Thank you for listening, and now
57:39
please stay tuned for continued programming right here on Radio
57:44
I