ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News to Discuss Shooting at Brown University, Antisemitic Attack In Australia, End-Of-Year Priorities For Congress

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-Yesterday, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, joined Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News to discuss the antisemitic shooting at Brown University, foreign efforts to stoke division through social media, global antisemitism, and President Donald Trump's leadership in standing with Israel.

Partial Transcript
Hagerty on the Brown University shooting: "It's heartbreaking. Last night, when I got the news, I reached out to the president of Brown University to convey my condolences, my sympathies, and prayers for those who are injured. We don't know a lot. There are a lot of questions to be answered. But as we move into the holiday season here, it's just particularly heartbreaking to see this. I heard Senator Fetterman earlier about the message that we need to send. I hope it's one of calmness. This is just a tragedy. And then combining this with what happened in Australia-it's very, very disturbing."

Hagerty on antisemitism on college campuses: "It is just unbelievable that it hasn't been taken more seriously. I don't think the White House could have been more clear that this has got to come to an end. That message should be heard by the universities rather than scoffed at, and this is very serious. To think that we've got antisemitism running as rampant as it is-I heard Lindsey Graham say it shouldn't be a death sentence to be a Jewish person in America. That's absolutely true. Our Jewish friends deserve to be safe. They deserve not to suffer like this. And it's just a tragedy that this is going on at American campuses."

Hagerty on the investigation into the Brown University incident: "They've obtained a person. I hope this is the shooter. But we need not only to bring this person to justice, but to understand the motives and what is motivating these people to do this. What is the driving force for these terrible crimes? Having this happen on campus is so disruptive. These children should be there to study. They were in an econ class. And now I'm sure everybody's been locked down until this morning. Campus must be a complete nightmare. My heart goes out to everybody there at Brown University."

Hagerty on foreign governments fueling antisemitism through social media: "I think we've had plenty of clear evidence that outside forces-outside governments, whether it be China, Russia, Iran, you name it-are doing things on social media to be divisive here in America. This is exactly the type of thing that breaks apart the moral fabric here in our country, and it's something we absolutely should stop. We need to have more policing of what's happening. I think X has taken an important step in terms of identifying the source of some of these personalities online that actually aren't American at all. They're misidentified. They're coming from foreign countries. The time has come to identify this, make it clear, and stop it."

Hagerty on antisemitism in Australia and the global threat: "It's again a shocking revelation of what's happened in Australia. There have been many complaints about the immigration policies in Australia. The government there is going to have to address this head-on. There's an amazing amount of antisemitism around the world that we're seeing emerge. You mentioned social media activating it, but there have been massive movements of people who absolutely want to see death to Israel-and death to America, for that matter. This transpiring in Australia at a holy time, at the beginning of Hanukkah, is just shocking. We need to get to the bottom of it. The Australian government needs to come together and stop this sort of antisemitic behavior. And as the United States of America-the leader in that region-we need to be supportive of these efforts."

Hagerty on President Trump's leadership in standing with Israel: "President Trump has been the most supportive president we've ever seen with Israel. He's the one responsible for the Abraham Accords. He's taken decisive action in the Middle East to bring about peace. He's dealt with some very challenging situations that frankly arose under the Obama and Biden administrations. He's done an amazing job of working with Israel. There's still more work to do clearly when you see what's happening in Syria, when you see what's happened right here in Australia. But what President Trump and his leadership can bring to bear is a solid stance and a strong backbone to stand up against antisemitism around the world. President Trump can lead that effort. He's doing it right now, and I hope other national leaders will follow."

Hagerty on antisemitism within the Democratic Party: "It's been shocking to me to see this because in the pro-Palestinian movement, it's also taken on tones of antisemitism, and it's just something that should not prevail in America. And the Democratic Party seems to be embracing this. It's shocking to me. … It's really sad to see what has happened in the Democrat Party-to become a mouthpiece for this antisemitic behavior here in America. … Americans are not antisemitic. Americans are not pro-Palestinian. They don't want to see death to Israel. It's really shocking to me that the Democrat party is so aligned with such a left-wing fringe that they've completely contorted their position and divorced themselves from reality here in America."

Hagerty on end-of-year priorities and Memphis crime reduction: "It certainly brings a new gravity to everything that we do. With these shootings in Providence, what's happened overseas-Australia, Syria-there's a real concern that we've got to be serious and get down to business. What we've seen is a lot of theatrics in the United States-government shutdowns, etc. We need to be very focused on getting the National Defense Authorization bill passed. We're going to do that before the end of the year. It's critical to our national security and to the security of our allies. We also need to be very focused on addressing the affordability crisis we inherited from Joe Biden and the massive subsidies that he put into the healthcare system. We're working at a pace to address that. The Democrats' solution is more of the same, trying to fix a broken program by subsidizing it further and further, is not going to work. Republicans are working on real solutions. With respect to Memphis, I'm so pleased with the progress. We've arrested over 4,000 criminals in Memphis since this effort really began. This is something that started from the moment President Trump was elected. I reached out to the leadership there in Memphis. We put together a very close collaborative team working with federal agents and at the state level, working locally. We brought back 142 kids who were missing. Serious gang members are now behind bars. We're making Memphis one of the safest cities in America. It's a beautiful city, and it's a real feat to see this transformation happen so quickly. My heart goes out to the people there whose lives have been changed, and my thanks to President Trump for his leadership in all of this."

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