When Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) added to an emerging GOP trend Friday by accusing billionaire philanthropist George Soros of funding pro-Palestine protests on college campuses, Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto shot back that there is “no proof” for her claim, adding wryly: “I just looked for the checks and I haven’t seen them yet.”
On Your World, Mace followed the likes of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, each of whom have either suggested or declared outright that Soros is providing financial support for protesters at universities like Columbia, UCLA, and Rutgers.
When asked if she believed school administrations should negotiate with protesters and “put up for a vote” regarding divesting from Israel, Mace dismissed that idea, instead calling for some of the students to be deported.
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“While they want disclosure and divestment, I want firings. I want people to be expelled. I want those who are here illegally or here on a student visa and participating in these things deported,” she said. “It’s a very different scenario if these were peaceful protests, if this were about the First Amendment, I think it would be something very different, but it’s not.”
Mace’s implication that student protesters have been violent seems to be in reference not to any fistfights, but to the occupation of campus buildings, with some Columbia students, for instance, having broken windows to gain entry. (When the NYPD went in later to clear that building and make arrests, one officer fired his gun accidentally, which didn’t happen to injure anyone.)
Mace then tried to depict student activity as being financed by a well-endowed source, who also happens to be a subject of many a conspiracy theory, often with antisemitic undertones.
“You’ve got groups that are funded by George Soros. There are Palestinian rights groups that I believe are involved, funded by George Soros,” she argued. “And they need to be off of our college campuses if they’re committing violence. Full stop.”
Cavuto replied with a clarification. “Alright, there’s no proof that these are funded by George Soros, by the way,” he said. “Their folks have denied that. But we’ll see exactly where all this money is coming from.”
Mace opted to not push the issue. “We’ll agree to disagree, I guess,” she said, smiling.
Cavuto ended the discussion with a quip. “I just looked for the checks and I haven’t seen them yet,” he remarked, shuffling through papers on his desk.
