The Daily Signal - Speaker Johnson Backs Ukraine Aid Bill, House Holds Second Antisemitism Hearing, Lawmakers Respond to NGO Flyers Telling Illegal Aliens to Vote for Biden | April 17

Episode Date: April 17, 2024

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: ·         Speaker Mike Johnson will back four foreign aid bills that includes nearly $100 billion in spending. ·         The Columbia University president is grilled in a House hearing on antisemitism ·         Lawmakers react to a Daily Signal story about an NGO distributing flyers urging illegal aliens to vote for Biden. ·         NPR whistleblower quits after suspension.   Relevant Links:  https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/04/02/national-council-of-teachers-of-english-hosts-seminar-on-how-to-teach-gender-queer/    Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/ Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription   Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcasts Sign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm Brian Gottstein, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Wednesday, April 17th. Here are today's headlines. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday that he'd move forward on several foreign aid bills, which includes spending on Ukraine and Israel. According to the Wall Street Journal, Johnson's plan includes four bills, one each for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, and a fourth bill containing many Republican priorities, including a ban or for sale of TikTok. in the United States. Johnson has faced increasing pressure from some conservatives lately.

Texas Republican Representative Chip Roy said that the Speaker is seeking a rule to pass almost $100 billion in foreign aid while dangerous criminals, terrorists, and fentanyl pour across our border. Roy said that the border part of the package is watered down and merely provides cover for those who vote for it. On Tuesday, Representative Thomas Massey of Kentucky became the the second Republican to call for a vote to remove Johnson from the speakership. The House of Representatives held its second hearing on anti-Semitism on Wednesday. This one is focused on the failure of Columbia University to stop anti-Semitic incidents from happening on campus. The Daily Signals, Jared Stepman, reports that lawmakers directed cutting questions at Columbia University

President Manu Shafic during the hearing. New York Representative Elise Stefanik Shafiq on tenured Columbia professor Joseph Massad, who called the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel awesome and has made a number of other anti-Israel statements directed at students. Sheffik said that she condemned his statement and that he's been talked to about his rhetoric. Stefanik asked if there were any other enforcement actions taken, to which Shafiq responded that the professor hasn't made any similar comments since. Does he need to repeat? state stating that the massacre of Israeli citizens was awesome? Does he need to repeat his participation in an unauthorized pro-Hamas demonstration on April 4th, Stefanik asked rhetorically?

Shafik said that Mossad had been removed from his role of chairman of the school's academic review committee. However, Stefanik pointed out later in the hearing that his name remains listed as chairman on the school's website. Shafik would not confirm that Mossad had been removed. Assad is still in fact listed on the Columbia website as chair of the academic review committee. Are you aware of that? I would need to check that. It's the website's right here. I don't want to misstate because I don't want to misstate because I don't have been removed as chair.

I would like to do you have my commitment. He'll be removed as chair today. I have my commitment that I will come back to you and give you the facts. So he hasn't been removed. So you said in front of Congress under oath that I'm I am not sure he was removed. Well, I'll tell you what. He's still listed on chair. The flyers that were found at a migrant center in Mexico calling on migrants to vote for President Biden when they reached the U.S.

constitute foreign meddling in U.S. elections, congressional Republicans say. The Daily Signals, Fred Lucas reports that amid the ongoing illegal immigration crisis at the southern border, lawmakers decried the flyers posted at a migrant services center that tell illegal aliens, reminder to vote for President Biden when you're in the United States. Kansas Republican Senator Roger Marshall told Lucas that President Biden has sacrificed our nation's safety and security in his pursuit to get as many people here as possible because he believes their future Democrat voters. Marshall called it election interference orchestrated at the highest levels and said Americans must have complete confidence in their elections. He said that

any non-governmental organization that receives federal funds and is pushing illegal get-out-the-vote efforts for Joe Biden should be stripped of their funding immediately. The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, which was tipped off to the flyers, notes that they say in Spanish, reminder to vote for President Biden when you're in the United States, we need another four years of his term to stay open. Yuri Berliner, a senior editor at National Public Radio, who wrote a scathing article recently about NPR's left-wing bias resigned on Wednesday. Berliner posted a resignation note on X. He said that NPR is a great American institution,

and he didn't call for its defunding, but explained why he had to leave. I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism, Berliner wrote, but I cannot work in a newsroom where I'm disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems

at NPR I cite in my free press essay. NPR had suspended Berliner after he published his article in the free press last week, saying that he hadn't asked for the required approval before publishing his piece in another outlet. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thanks for listening to The Daily Signal's Top News. If you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed, where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voice. Also, make sure you subscribe to The Daily Signal wherever you get your podcast and help us to reach more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review. We read all of your feedback. Thanks again for listening. Have a great night and we'll be back with you all tomorrow morning.

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