Five Jewish Democratic senators demanded answers from President Donald Trump on the calculus behind penalizing Harvard University, its medical school and other collegiate institutions across the country under what they called the pretext of antisemitism on campus.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sens. Adam Schiff of California, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut lambasted the president, while saying they agree on the scourge of antisemitism over time.

«Dear President Trump, we write regarding your administration’s assault on universities, including threats and actions to withhold funds or otherwise punish certain institutions of higher learning, in what you claim is an effort to eliminate the very real threat of anti-Semitism on college campuses,» the Thursday letter began.

«We also write as Jewish senators who have spoken out strongly against rising antisemitism here in the United States, including on college campuses, and who have called on university leaders to do more to tackle antisemitism with accountability and action in the wake of the horrific October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.» 

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From left: Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. (Getty Images)

The quintet called Trump’s decisions to freeze funding for Harvard and focus on other schools where antisemitic behavior and protests abounded last year «broad and extra-legal attacks» — adding they were «troubled and disturbed» by his decisions.

The lawmakers said Trump’s actions «seem to go far beyond combating antisemitism» and into the range of «using what is a real crisis as a pretext to attack people and institutions who do not agree with you.»

Speaking of Harvard specifically, the senators said threatening to revoke the Ivy League college’s tax-exempt status and demeaning faculty as «woke, radical left idiots» goes far beyond constructive efforts to support Jewish students.

«They instead seem to be aimed broadly at changing the way the university functions, exacting huge penalties in ways wholly unrelated to combating anti-Semitism, and we fear are instead aimed at undermining or even destroying these vital institutions while hiding behind claims of tackling antisemitism as a guise,» the letter said.

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They offered an olive branch in seeking to work with Republicans on combating antisemitism, but reiterated their belief Trump’s overtures are «simply a means to an end» for the mogul to trash his ideological opposition.

They called on the president to respond by Wednesday of next week with data and details as to why specific colleges were targeted for a federal funding freeze, and what the calculus was for doing so.

«In the case of Harvard specifically, what specific charges had the administration made against Harvard in regards to antisemitism? Please describe your charges in specific detail, including naming specific cases and why you believe the steps that Harvard has already taken to strengthen response to antisemitism are insufficient,» they wrote.

They also said Trump has targeted Harvard Medical School, lauding its cancer research in questioning that particular decision.

«What is your legal justification … when almost every legal scholar has ruled that you have no basis for doing this?» they concluded.

Separately, Schiff said during a debate last year that he also received several antisemitic attacks, particularly online.

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«I take this issue very personally,» he said. «What’s happening on college campuses, I think, is terrifying.»

In February, Rosen joined Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to introduce the Antisemitism Awareness Act.

«Antisemitism is on the rise across the nation, particularly on college campuses, and Congress has a responsibility to do everything in its power to fight back against this hate,» Rosen said in a statement.

Schatz, who is seen as a prime potential successor to Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., as Democrats’ No. 2 caucus leader, tweeted in 2023 that he opposes antisemitism and Islamophobia.

«Criticism of Israel is not antisemitism. Wanting to disable Hamas is not Islamophobia. Wanting to protect civilians is neither. I may delete this once my comments become a mess,» he wrote.

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Earlier this year, Schumer published a book, «Antisemitism in America: A Warning,» about his own life experiences.

In a tweet about the letter, Blumenthal called antisemitism «a real & horrific threat on campuses — & must be fought — but it should not be exploited as a pretext to target universities & silence dissent.»

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response to the joint letter.

Líderes internacionales han presentado sus primeros respetos ante el féretro del Papa Francisco en la Basílica de San Pedro, en la capital italiana, Roma, después de que el Pontífice falleciera a los 88 años en su residencia de la Casa Santa Marta del Vaticano.

El presidente francés, Emmanuel Macron, su homólogo brasileño, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva o el irlandés Michael Higgins se han despedido este viernes del Pontífice en la capilla ardiente instalada en la basílica, por la que han desfilado también la india Droupadi Murmu o el expresidente keniano Uhuru Kenyatta.

El presidente de Brasil y la primera dama, Janja Lula da Silva, visitaron este viernes la capilla ardiente del papa Francisco, en el tercer y último día de su velatorio en la basílica de San Pedro, y le rindieron homenaje en su último adiós.

El mandatario estuvo, además, acompañado por la ex presidenta Dilma Rousseff, el presidente del Supremo Tribunal Federal, Luís Roberto Barroso; el presidente del Senado, Davi Alcolumbre; el presidente de la Cámara y diputado federal, Hugo Motta; y una comitiva de otros ministros y parlamentarios brasileños.

En las imágenes compartidas por el propio Lula se lo vio movilizado, “compartiendo la emoción y la devoción con todos los que vinieron a rendir su merecido homenaje al Santo Padre”.

“Que tu sabiduría, coraje y compasión sigan iluminando los corazones de todos nosotros”, escribió en sus redes sociales.

Lula y la delegación brasileña participará, este sábado, del funeral del Papa, al igual que lo harán representantes de 130 países, incluidos 50 jefes de Estado y 10 soberanos reinantes, según informó el Vaticano.

Joe Biden, Donald Trump, el rey Felipe VI, Emmanuel Macron, António Guterres y Úrsula von der Leyen son algunos de los nombres que figuran en la lista.

Pasadas las 18:00 horas de este viernes, tal y como estaba previsto, los accesos a la plaza de San Pedro fueron cerrados, con miras a dar inicio a los preparativos para el último adiós al Santo Padre. Luego de que cerca de 250.000 personas se acercaran a la Basílica para despedir a Francisco, a las 20:00 hora local oficialmente se selló su féretro.

La ceremonia estuvo presidida por el cardenal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camarlengo de la Santa Romana Iglesia, tal como establece el Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, y contó con la presencia también del cardenal Giovanni Battista Re, el cardenal presbítero Dominique Mamberti, el cardenal Mauro Gambetti y el secretario del Estado del Vaticano, Pietro Parolin, entre otros.

Luego, el sábado por la mañana tendrá lugar la Santa Misa Exequial, en el atrio de la Basílica de San Pedro, y, a continuación, el cuerpo de Francisco será trasladado hacia la Basílica de Santa María Maggiore, donde se llevará a cabo su sepultura.

En las últimas horas, las autoridades italianas confirmaron que, tras evaluar diversas opciones y en coordinación con el operativo de seguridad listo para desplegarse, el cortejo fúnebre recorrerá seis kilómetros del corazón de Roma, desde la Ciudad del Vaticano hasta la Basílica.

La ruta trazada iniciará en la puerta del Perugino, en la Santa Sede, y seguirá parcialmente el antiguo trazado de la Via Papalis, la procesión que, en el pasado, hacían los pontífices tras ser designados.

Para ello, se utilizará un auto desde el cual se podrá ver el cajón del pontífice argentino, que avanzará a “paso solemne” e irá escoltado por un reducido número de coches que movilizarán a algunos cardenales.

Ante la alta presencia de fieles, se instalarán cuatro pantallas gigantes en la zona, para que todas las personas que lo deseen puedan seguir la ceremonia en vivo.

The late Pope Francis sought to make the Catholic Church more welcoming to transgender and LGBTQ people, often causing stir among traditional conservative Catholics, even as he remained a staunch critic of what he called «dangerous» gender ideology.

While he maintained traditional Catholic teachings on gender and sexuality in official documents, the pontiff’s actions often told a different, ambiguous story.

«Being homosexual isn’t a crime,» Francis once said to The Associated Press in 2023. It was the first time a pope addressed the legal side of homosexual laws around the world, and LGBTQ activists praised him for it.

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Francis also called the criminalization of homosexuality «unjust,» adding that some Catholic bishops in other countries may be proponents of outlawing it for cultural reasons.

«These bishops have to have a process of conversion,» he said. «Tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us.»

Also in 2023, the controversial Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans — a declaration by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) — issued guidance for priests to bless same-sex couples. The blessings are meant for individuals, not the union itself, according to Pope Francis.

The document states that «one should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation.»

«At the same time, one should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing,» it reads.

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Pope Francis greets cardinals as he unexpectedly appears during the Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican on April 13. (Yara Nardi/Reuters)

Francis further raised concerns among conservatives when, in 2023, the Vatican ruled transgender people can be baptized and become godparents, provided their participation would not cause «confusion» or scandal.

In March of that year, Pope Francis hosted a group of transgender women — many of whom are sex workers or migrants from Latin America — to a Vatican luncheon for the Catholic Church’s «World Day of the Poor.»

The pontiff and the transgender women formed a close relationship after the pope came to their aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they were unable to work. They met monthly for VIP visits with the pope and received medicine, money and shampoo any day, according to The Associated Press. 

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Pope Francis tours St. Peter’s Square in his popemobile after bestowing the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for «to the city and to the world») blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sunday. (Andrew Medichini/AP)

Meanwhile, Pope Francis called gender ideology «one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations» in a March 2023 interview with Argentinian newspaper La Nación.

«All humanity is the tension of differences. It is to grow through the tension of differences,» the pope said. «The question of gender is diluting the differences and making the world the same, all dull, all alike, and that is contrary to the human vocation.»

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The pontiff at the time attributed the increase in gender fluidity to well-meaning people who «do not distinguish what is respect for sexual diversity or diverse sexual preferences from what is already an anthropology of gender, which is extremely dangerous because it eliminates differences, and that erases humanity, the richness of humanity, both personal, cultural, and social, the diversities and the tensions between differences.»

Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.