Jordan Rickards: 00:03 Okay. Welcome to the conservative opinion.com video podcast. Our guest today is the lovely Justine Murray and her resume is a little bit longer than most, so indulge me here for a moment while I read through this whole thing. Uh, Justine was the director of communications and was recently promoted to chief of staff of the New York Federation of College Republicans. She’s the former vice president of the New York Federation of College Republicans Women’s Leadership Caucus and she’s the campus correspondent for Campus Reform, which is a watchdog of the nation’s higher education system, which seeks to expose bias and abuse on the nations college campuses. She’s also, as you may have surmised, a
Justine Murray: 01:00 Thank you for having me.
Jordan Rickards: 01:01 Did I get everything there? I did. I miss anything.
Justine Murray: 01:03 And then you got it. Perfect.
Jordan Rickards: 01:05 And you’re what year? Like 20 years old now. Is that it?
Justine Murray: 01:07 Yep. Do I need,
Jordan Rickards: 01:08 and what? You’ve been very busy. In fact, uh, you’ve been especially busy the last couple of weeks. I want to talk to you about that. Um, if you wouldn’t mind. In fact, I want to show you this picture here if you can see it. And uh, who’s that lovely young lady in the red dress there. You recognize that person?
Justine Murray: 01:24 Oh hmm.
Jordan Rickards: 01:28 Yeah, that’s a, that’s you and our president, president Trump and he’s signing something that, can you tell us what is that about?
Justine Murray: 01:34 Sure. So I was standing right next to the president while he was signing a three speech executive order, reinforcing our first amendment rights on college campuses and ensuring that colleges will defend and support first amendment rights of students and both administrators as well on college campuses.
Jordan Rickards: 01:56 And how’d you get involved in all of this?
Justine Murray: 01:58 So I tried to start a young Americans for freedom chapter at Syracuse and the school rejected our chapter because they said in our mission statement, our recognition of the u s constitution is exclusionary to some students. So I brought this up, um, and I’m still fighting to get this chapter on campus and I wrote not bad about this campus or form it did an article about this and I was recognized by the president along with a few other students who have also experienced some campus free speech battles of their own.
Jordan Rickards: 02:39 Well, did anybody bother to explain to you in what way our constitution is exclusionary?
Justine Murray: 02:45 So they just told me that international students will feel excluded. Um, even though a large reason why people come from different countries to study in the u s is because of the freedoms and the opportunities that we wouldn’t have here if it weren’t for our constitution,
Jordan Rickards: 03:04 which allows them to come here in the first place. Right. And grants them all kinds of rights and liberties that they don’t experience in other countries, which is why they come here. That’s wonderful. All right. So basically if you support the constitution, then you are, you’re noninclusive and therefore you could not be included. Does that basically it
Justine Murray: 03:23 basically all they also said that it was a violation of the university’s nondiscrimination policy
Jordan Rickards: 03:31 to discriminate against you, right? So they can discriminate against you. Is that the idea?
Justine Murray: 03:35 Right. They could discriminate against the conservative or just discriminate, discriminate against anybody who upholds the US Constitution. But, um, apparently they depreciate these policies of tolerance and nondiscrimination, yet they discriminate themselves.
Jordan Rickards: 03:53 Right. So how is it that you got on the White House’s radar and got this invitation?
Justine Murray: 03:58 So I worked for campus reform, um, and therefore since campus reform did recognize the story, um, and I have reported free speech violations in the past. Um, I was recognized by the leadership institute, um, which was recognized by the White House.
Jordan Rickards: 04:19 And so you got invited and this was, this all took place about two weeks ago, is that right? Yep. Do you get the first class treatment there and everything?
Justine Murray: 04:26 I did. It was such a great experience. And I remember when the president was walking up the aisle, I had a flashback to CPAC. I literally had to stand on a chair to see the president and maybe the president who see the top of my head. But right now I’m actually standing on stage with the president. It was, I couldn’t believe it was happening.
Jordan Rickards: 04:48 No, I knew when I saw your invitation, I said to myself, she’s gonna figure out a way to stand right next to him that you weren’t going to be the person. And so of course you were the reddest dress possible to get the most attention possible.
Justine Murray: 04:59 Well, red is my favorite color.
Jordan Rickards: 05:01 Yeah, me too. Well, let me ask you a question. What was the president Trump like?
Justine Murray: 05:05 So president Trump is how president Trump is very friendly, very down to earth. He was even fatherly and he was really respectful and in how you recognize the students who were there and he recognized the issues and the battles that we were fighting on our campuses. So it was, he’s also tall.
Jordan Rickards: 05:29 Yeah, I know. He’s like six three, isn’t it? Yup. So this isn’t one of these things where you guys were all on stage and he just showed up to get his picture taken into sign some things. He actually spent time with you and seemed genuinely concerned about this issue.
Justine Murray: 05:42 Right? He did. He, he talked with the students and he really seemed to care about, you know, the issues we were facing and the constant getting shut down by not just students, but,
Jordan Rickards: 05:58 right. And can you tell us exactly or if you have an idea of what his executive order does and how it functions?
Justine Murray: 06:04 Right. So it, this free speech executive order, I mean, does why executive orders have done in the past, um, with college campuses, but public and private, they will lose their federal funding if they, if they shut down first amendment rights on their campus.
Jordan Rickards: 06:25 Okay. And when you say federal funding, does that include things like access to federally subsidized student loans? And we’re just talking about grants and things like that.
Justine Murray: 06:34 Any contract, anything that’s funded by the government. So include, would be cut off if they’re caught violating free speech rights.
Jordan Rickards: 06:43 Yeah, it’s, it’s telling that, you know, none of the Pete, we have all these people running for president on the Democrat side and they have been totally silent on this issue. You know what I mean? It’s a, and I suspect this because it’s not really an issue that impacts then. I mean, can you think of any examples in your experience where any liberals on campus or any, any, uh, leftist students have been subjected to this kind of, uh, discrimination?
Justine Murray: 07:05 I can’t think of any situation. I mean, you just don’t see this happening to the left now. Back in the 60s. Um, ask anyone promoting free speech in the 60s on I UC Berkeley. And they would say this is a leftist costs. They would say no. There are conservative sensors and conservative leaning speech codes that would shut down liberal speech. And that happened back in the 60s. Um, people including Abbie Hoffman who was a staunch supporter of free speech. They were the ones fighting at UC Berkeley. And now you see Berkeley is the place where a colleague of mine was a conservative was just punched in the face simply for his political views.
Jordan Rickards: 07:50 Can you, um, what do you suppose what he’s supposed to, universities are now so hostile to free speech. I have my own theories on these sorts of things. I want to hear yours.
Justine Murray: 08:00 I think that universities across the country have stopped teaching and they’ve adopted more left leaning ideals because it’s become cool. Um, you see a lot of liberalism being pushed in our generation. So now the professors, they, they are very liberal on, you don’t see a lot of conservative professors in these very liberal professors are more concerned about promoting their opinions in classrooms then actually teaching. So when a conservative student, God forbid questions, whatever they’re teaching, they get very, very upset. Um, and it, it triggers them, um, you know, and questions their, uh, their ability to, to teach. Um, and it’s an insult to that. So they feel like the sensory, you, if you’re a student and you’re a conservative,
Jordan Rickards: 09:00 yeah. I don’t think people realize how bad it is these days. I mean the ratio of liberals to conservatives and the humanities departments anyway, which is where this stuff happens is like 30 to one. You know what I mean? So it’s not like it’s a minor imbalance like 60 40 I mean 30 to one is, is basically and, and the one person who is a conservative as is not speaking up like everyone else. You’re, here’s my theory on these things. I think the liberals, the professors can’t compete in the arena of ideas, number one. And they’ve, they’ve kind of militarized this whole thing where it’s not even about an exchange of ideas. You are definably evil, you know, because of, because of what you believe. But I think with the students it’s a little bit different. You’ve got this, I exclude you from this cause you’re really intelligent and accomplished and I think very thoughtful. But there’s this sort of millennial culture where these young people who have learned nothing, think they know everything. And when you think you know everything, then you don’t value feet free speech cause you have nothing to learn from it. So what can Justine Marie teach me by expressing her opinions when I already know everything I already know all the problems in the world are the cause of, you know, racism, sexism and capitalism and political correctness is the answer to everything. So why do we need free speech if I already know about all of that?
Justine Murray: 10:13 Oil’s down to students are being taught how to be narcissists and when we’re concerned about being self righteous, then having an open mind and if someone dares questions your self righteousness, you are therefore labeled as a bigot or just as you said, evil.
Jordan Rickards: 10:36 Right? Right. Now you mentioned, um, on your Facebook page a while back, I read this where you mentioned where you tried to go to a party, what dressed up is like Ivanka Trump or something, wherever that correct. Melania Trump. That was it. Tell us about that.
Justine Murray: 10:49 So last year I was banned from a floor of my dorm for dressing up as Melania Trump for Halloween. And this Laura is called the multicultural floor, um, which is kinda hypocritical because Melania Trump, she speaks about five to seven different languages and immigrant herself. She’s as multicultural as you can get, but she is, you know, conservative leaning and she is married to a conservative president. So that’s not accepted.
Jordan Rickards: 11:20 So you were banned from an entire floor because what you are triggering people
Justine Murray: 11:24 I guess so they, oh, they told me in an email that this costume, um, oppressed, marginalized identities. So I represented a political figure who oppresses marginalized identity is and the marginalized identity here is the conservative identity.
Jordan Rickards: 11:43 Right? Exactly. Well, you know, and here’s the thing, they talk about all these safe spaces and it sounds kind of innocuous and obviously these people said they needed a safe, a safe space from you, but it’s really way to vilify you because if I say that I need safety from you, I’m implying that you’re dangerous. Right. I’m saying that you’re evil. So it’s not an innocent accommodation. It’s actually an indictment of view. It’s, it’s slanderous. I mean, this is really, um, kind of a fascist tactic really when you talk about suppressing speeches and excluding other people in the name of inclusion. I mean, it’s the, it’s the ultimate double speak. It’s like what Orwell spoke about.
Justine Murray: 12:19 It’s the whole, do what I say, not what I do. Love is hate
Jordan Rickards: 12:25 it. War is peace.
Justine Murray: 12:26 Yeah. It’s exactly what you’d find out of 1984. And it’s either that these people don’t realize it, they don’t want to realize it or they know exactly what they’re doing and they just to cover all, they want to cover all of this up in names like tolerance and promoting a piece. And,
Jordan Rickards: 12:47 well, it’s interesting you bring up the peace thing again and the double speak in Orwell because right before this video started we were talking about, um, you would discover the faculty over at, uh, at Syracuse Center. We’re actively supporting organizations that support Hamas. Um, and that I think, would you say the name of the group was like the Syracuse Peace Council? Is that right now? Hamas where people don’t know is, uh, is Yasser Arafat terrorist organization. They were the ones who began the fad of terrorist bombing airplanes. Okay. And now we have, uh, the faculty over at Syracuse. So how did, how did you discover all of that? How that come about?
Justine Murray: 13:23 Great. So I have another Jewish friends. You, Dan’s me and a Facebook event for this organization called the Syracuse Peace Council. And it was called Justice for Palestine. I a very nice sounding name. Right? So I decided to go to the event and see what was happening and I had my camera out and I essentially went under cover where I filmed that for faculty members stating support for Hamas, saying Hamas has been a lot of good for Palestinians and we should be teaching our young kids about Hamas and the good work they do. And another person said that, well, violence against Zionists is, I should be considered okay. Um, in some circumstances because Zionism is somehow a racist ideology and therefore violence against Sinus is okay. And then another person said that, well, um, Israel shouldn’t exist. Jewish people can move to Brooklyn, Florida, uh, live in Syracuse. So typical antisemitic tropes were being used at this event. And meanwhile, our university provides college credits to students who work for this group.
Jordan Rickards: 14:40 That’s really alarming. So that’s justice for Palestine. Of course. I guess they forget that Jews are Palestinians too. I don’t think they’re very high up on their, a Middle Eastern history there. Uh, and it like whenever someone says criticized Zionists, they seem to refer to pretty much every Jewish person. Right? Like, I understand that you can criticize Israel without being antisemitic, but I think antisemitism is really the only explanation for this reflexive and faddish criticism of Israel at basically every level of higher education.
Justine Murray: 15:13 Right? These people are criticizing Israeli policies. They’re blaming blatantly stating that Israel shouldn’t exist and there shouldn’t be a Jewish state.
Jordan Rickards: 15:23 Well, let me ask you, and I, I know we weren’t going to get into this, but we had a few extra minutes if you don’t mind. Um, I asked you before we started. Why do you suppose it is that so many Jewish people have so, um, so loyal? He voted for the Democrats, uh, over the years when the Democrats have basically always been in line with these extremist organizations that hate Israel. And now you see, you see these congress women, um, like Yo hand Omar who is flagrantly antisemetic. Keith Ellison, who was the head of the DNC, was a, an acolyte of Louis Farrakhan, another flagrant anti-semite. I mean, I could really go on with this. Why are, why are Jewish people so loyal to a party that is so disloyal to them?
Justine Murray: 16:06 Right. I actually heard, um, kind of a few theories about this. Um, this actually was at a turning point USA event where as someone senior that Jewish people have just lost their religion. Um, since the Holocaust Jewish people have kind of felt this inner disdain for their religion. And we’ve become a lot more secularized where we’re, we’re just losing ourselves and we’re promoting our politics, um, before just, you know, defending our people’s right to exist. Right? And people will say, this is self-loathing. Um, I also think it has to do with just self righteousness. So there’s this idea in Judaism called Tikun Olam, and I hope I pronounced that right, but it basically means to repair the world. So, um, a lot of leftist juice. They had this idea that Oh, were doing some sort of a sort of good and it makes us feel good to think that we’re doing good. Um, so while are doing this good, I’m aware it, you know, getting rid of our religion where we’re shutting down our own people to kind of pander to people who just don’t want us to exist and want to exterminate us like the Nazis did.
Jordan Rickards: 17:29 Yeah. It kind of reminds me of um, uh, the Holocaust survivor Eli wise though, I don’t know if you’ve ever read any of his works.
Justine Murray: 17:35 I read night.
Jordan Rickards: 17:36 Yeah. Okay. That’s what I was thinking about too. And one of the things that pervades his work is kind of this feeling that like God let them down or like, you know, he, he talks about it. It’s not enough to sit there and pray and hope that God is going to rescue you from this. And I wonder if that’s really the, um, what’s at the center of this, which is, it’s not part of it. Maybe like you said, self loathing. I wonder if it just feel like, it feels like, why? Why should we be religious instead of secular? When, um, what good did that do us, do you think that has something to do with it? I mean, and I’m not Jewish, so I’m asking and not asserting this. I’m asking you from my own knowledge.
Justine Murray: 18:12 It could definitely have something to do with that. Um, you know, Jewish people feel that, well, as you said, religion hasn’t helped us in the past. So what’s it going to do now? Um, and then, you know, we’ve experienced on this collective memory of the Holocaust. So, um, is that loss of God? Well, where was God that I’m so why should we, you know, be religious now if God wasn’t for us then? Um, so it, it’s that idea of God has let us down
Jordan Rickards: 18:43 and since, since, um, it Lan Omar and, uh, I can’t, uh, to leave, have become congress people. And Keith Ellison was a head of the DNC. Have you seen, um, in your experience, more Jewish people starting to question the Democratic Party and think about joining the Republican Party?
Justine Murray: 19:00 So there’s this beautiful movement, um, that has just been started called Jexodus right? It’s the walkaway movement for the Jewish people. So the head of this movement is Elizabeth Pukekohe and
Jordan Rickards: 20:04 Well, yeah, it’s not enough though for Republicans, I think to watch a Democrat’s mess things up. I mean Republicans have to affirmatively attract Jewish voters to, uh, what do you think the Republican party can do better in order to do that and to get more wonderful, wonderful people such as yourself.
Justine Murray: 20:19 Thank you. I would just say keep supporting Israel. Um, keep doing what we’re doing. Um, you know, a lot of people on the left will say, oh, what about all of the all rights? Uh, so called Nazi is, I’m on your side. Um, and in your party, um, and a lot of the antisemitism on the, on the right, and that’s been, that’s been condemned by both Republicans and Democrats. We hate those people and I would say we should keep condemning them. Um, but the left has not condemned their radical leftist antisemites and said they promoted these people in the name of Progressivism, right? Antisemitism on the left now is the sky is as somehow promoting social justice for other identities and they draw a picture of, uh, Judaism as this big monster that is somehow oppressing those other identities. And that’s what is making it so hard to condemn antisemitism on the left.
Jordan Rickards: 21:28 Right. And of course, in order to condemn it, we need free speech. So I want to wrap this up with you a really quickly or as much time as you need telling us about this very exciting thing you’re doing called the where the don’t shout down. Let’s talk movement. I probably wrote that down wrong. You can do a better job of explaining it than me.
Justine Murray: 21:45 So my new platform, and I’ve been promoting this as Miss Garden State 2019 is don’t shout down. Don’t shut down. Let’s talk. So it’s restoring free speech on college campuses and promoting civil discourse no matter what political party you’re on, um, just throughout the US.
Jordan Rickards: 22:06 Okay. Uh, and that’s for your, um, your, I guess with the Miss New Jersey competition, it’s going to be a central focus at when is it, when is the Miss New Jersey competition and what can people do to help make you our next Miss America?
Justine Murray: 22:19 Well, the messengers, the competition is I think the week of June 10th to the 15th. Um, and we have a panel of judges to, we’ll pick the winner essentially. But I, the audience, I’m kind of vote for me as you like as to be in your top 10 or top 15 this year. They haven’t really come out with a lot of information about that, but audience members can vote for their favorite candidate to become part of like the final selection.
Jordan Rickards: 22:55 That’s like online. You do that or how do you do that?
Justine Murray: 22:57 So that’s online and usually the link comes out maybe one or two months before the actual competition. So we’re awaiting that link. The link comes out. I’m sharing it on my page.
Jordan Rickards: 23:10 Well, send it to me. I’ll make sure I share it as much as I can. I really want to see you win. Hey, uh, lastly, Justine, uh, have you thought about your future in politics? You’re going to run for office someday or what?
Justine Murray: 23:20 First I left to obtain my juris doctorate. Um, but I would love to run for public office one day. Maybe when I get a little bit older I want to make sure I have some experience under my belt and I want to start working with my local community. Um, my hometown in New Jersey. I’m in. I’ll go from there.
Jordan Rickards: 23:41 Well, that’s really exciting. Just seeing, thank you so much. You’ve been such a wonderful guests. Anything you want to say before we cut out?
Justine Murray: 23:47 I just want to say thank you so much, Jordan, for having me and I look forward to speaking to you again.
Jordan Rickards: 23:54 Thank you so much. Just say thank you. You’ve been wonderful. I’ll talk to you soon. Take care.
