NBC’s Today kicked off their show Thursday by hyping up and lionizing the anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas extremists calling for the murder of Jews at Columbia University. Completely ignoring the video evidence of the crowd chanting their “love” of Hamas and the signs saying Jewish counter-protesters should be murdered, NBC correspondent Stephanie Gosk boasted of their resolve to stay encamped on campus “until their demands are met.”
“Columbia University extended the deadline from the tent encampment here by 48 hours, but that deadline runs out tonight at midnight and the students I’ve spoken with here say they aren't going anywhere,” she touted at the top of her report.
Gosk did fret that “tension around the country is growing, it's spreading, it's leading to dramatic confrontations with police and dozens of arrests.”
She seemed disheartened that people were growing tired of the pro-Hamas rallies with some schools cracking down:
The temperature this morning on some college campuses reaching a boiling point. A growing number of protests forming over the ongoing war in the Middle East at campuses across the country, some leading to standoffs including the University of Texas at Austin. Students and police clashing during protests Wednesday. More than 30 were taken into custody.
Protesters gathered outside the jail, with some faculty saying in a statement they would not work today. And overnight, police and protesters clashing at the University of Southern California. Officers hit with objects arrested more than 90 people, though it's unclear how many were students.
Ignoring videos of the Columbia students chanting things like “Hamas we love you! We support your rockets too,” Gosk tried to water down their anti-Semitism with propaganda from the terrorist-linked Center for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) about the rise in Islamophobia.
“The tensions rising nationwide as reports of anti-Semitism and islamophobia have skyrocketed since last October, with the Anti-Defamation League and Center for American Islamic Relations each reporting record high complaints,” she reported.
In wrapping up her report, Gosk marveled at the Columbia encampment and commended the anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas extremists on “how well organized they are” and how “they have a lot of food coming in, they have good tents, the weather is not that bad.” “They say they are willing to stay here until their demands are met even if it means weeks,” she beamed.
Gosk didn’t seem to show enough journalistic curiosity to ask who was paying for all that food and those good tents. But she did anticipate that a clash between the extremists and the police would soon occur, noting: “And in three weeks, this campus is going to have its graduation and it takes place exactly where that tent encampment is set up right now.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
NBC’s Today
April 25, 2024
7:04:07 a.m. Eastern(…)
STEPHANIE GOSK: You know, Columbia University extended the deadline from the tent encampment here by 48 hours, but that deadline runs out tonight at midnight and the students I’ve spoken with here say they aren't going anywhere.
As you mentioned tension around the country is growing, it's spreading, it's leading to dramatic confrontations with police and dozens of arrests.
[Cuts to video]
The temperature this morning on some college campuses reaching a boiling point. A growing number of protests forming over the ongoing war in the Middle East at campuses across the country, some leading to standoffs including the University of Texas at Austin. Students and police clashing during protests Wednesday. More than 30 were taken into custody.
Protesters gathered outside the jail, with some faculty saying in a statement they would not work today. And overnight, police and protesters clashing at the university of Southern California. Officers hit with objects arrested more than 90 people, though it's unclear how many were students.
And back on the east coast a dramatic scene at Emerson College; where students are encamped on an alleyway in the middle of downtown Boston. Police and demonstrators facing off.
The tensions rising nationwide as reports of anti-Semitism and islamophobia have skyrocketed since last October, with the Anti-Defamation League and Center for American Islamic Relations each reporting record high complaints.
(…)
7:06:39 a.m. Eastern
HODA KOTB: Steph, it seems like every day we're reporting on another campus where these protests are breaking out. So, what happens next?
GOSK: Well, they're here to stay, according to the students I've spoken with here at Columbia. And we were walking around that encampment yesterday Hoda and I was struck by how well organized they are, they have a lot of food coming in, they have good tents, the weather is not that bad. They say they are willing to stay here until their demands are met even if it means weeks.
And in three weeks, this campus is going to have its graduation and it takes place exactly where that tent encampment is set up right now, Hoda.
KOTB: All right. Stephanie Gosk for us there at Columbia. Steph, thank you.
(…)
