Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., on Tuesday told Cowboy State Daily she wants to see a stronger response from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his fellow Democratic Party leaders following a rash of antisemitic attacks across the United States.
An Egyptian national who was in the United States illegally used a homemade flamethrower and Molotov cocktails on Sunday to execute a targeted attack on a gathering of Jewish community members in Boulder, Colorado, according to the FBI.
The suspected attacker, 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman, allegedly shouted “free Palestine” during the attack and injured at least eight victims.
That attack came in the wake of the shooting deaths of two Israeli embassy staffers outside Washington, D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum in May.
The suspected shooter, Elias Rodriguez, also expressed frustration over the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, according to court documents.
Antisemitism Taking Root
Lummis told Cowboy State Daily that she is disturbed by the persistent violence and antisemitism across the country.
“We need to make sure that antisemitism does not grow in the United States, take root here,” the senator said. “Unfortunately it has in ways that shock us.”
Sen. Lummis named her colleague Sen. Schumer as well as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as individuals who must speak out against continued antisemitism in the United States.
“Chuck Schumer should be speaking out and all Jewish leaders, elected leaders should be speaking out,” the senator said. “It's so incomprehensible that this is happening in the United States, that we've been way too slow to act.”
“I wish Democrats who are elected officials, including Chuck Schumer, including Gov. Shapiro, including Jared Polis in Colorado, should be speaking out and defending their ethnicity and defending their faith,” she added.
Schumer responded to the Boulder attack via X on Sunday, writing “antisemitism, plain and simple, has no place in America.” Shapiro and Polis also shared posts condemning the attack.
End Gaza Fighting
Sen. Lummis’ comments come as she continues to work on the federal level to end the fighting in Gaza.
The senator this month met with Chaim Or, whose brother Avinatan Or was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, while attending the Nova Music Festival in Israel. Or left a poster of his brother with the senator’s office, which she said serves as a reminder of all the hostages who remain in Hamas custody.
Lummis explained the meeting provided her a unique insight into some of the “behind-the-scenes” actions of the Trump administration to resolve the conflict.
“There are so many avenues of engagement, and some of them are being done very quietly and behind the scenes right now,” the senator said. “Even though President Trump visits with the press every day, there are certain matters that are really sensitive, and negotiations that are very sensitive, that continue, and it is still a priority for President Trump to get all the hostages released.”
Harvard
The senator also cheered Trump’s decision to penalize Harvard University for allegedly failing to combat antisemitism on its campus.
The president has revoked Harvard’s federal funding, directed federal offices to cancel contracts with the school and attempted to bar it from enrolling international students.
“[The Ivy League is] supposed to be the seed beds of American democracy, and now they're the seed beds of pro-Palestinian terrorism,” Lummis said. “I don’t see why we should give Harvard, Columbia and other elite Ivy League schools billions of taxpayer dollars when they will not tamp down on antisemitism on their campuses.”
