A shocking scene in Starkville, Mississippi, last week showed just how raw and public antisemitic hatred has become in America. While filming a One Bite pizza review near Mississippi State University on November 7, a passerby allegedly shouted an antisemitic slur at Barstool founder Dave Portnoy and even tossed coins toward him, an act that led to an arrest in the days that followed.
The video of the incident captured Portnoy calmly inviting the heckler into the frame and confronting the behavior rather than cowering from it, a response many Americans found both brave and appropriate. Conservative voters should admire that steadiness—when public figures stand their ground, it takes the wind out of the sails of cowards who hide behind mobs and cheap shots.
Portnoy told CBS Sunday Morning that antisemitism has become a daily experience for him, a claim that should alarm every patriot who believes in religious freedom and basic civil decency. The interview, set to air on Sunday Morning, highlights that this is not isolated to urban hot spots or online trolls; it is spreading into our towns and college towns alike.
This attack did not come from a vacuum. Back in May, Portnoy exposed an antisemitic sign displayed inside one of his Philadelphia bars, an incident that prompted firings and public outrage and showed the cultural rot that allows this behavior to fester. When even private businesses and nightlife scenes host this bile, it’s obvious the problem is cultural and institutional, not merely the work of a few bad apples.
Make no mistake: our universities and civic leaders have a responsibility here. Reports tying some of these episodes to college students underscore how radical campus climates and moral relativism are creating a generation that thinks hate speech is a political act rather than a moral failing. If institutions do not discipline and educate, the normalizing of antisemitism will only accelerate—and conservatives must be the loudest voices demanding accountability.
Law enforcement did what it should and arrested a suspect, but processing and immediate release in some cases show the limits of a system that sometimes treats disorder like free speech rather than the threat to public safety it can be. We need consistent enforcement of laws against disruptive and bias-motivated conduct, meaningful campus discipline, and civic education that teaches the next generation why targeting Jews—or any minority—is intolerable in a free society.
Dave Portnoy’s refusal to be a victim and voices like Dave Rubin amplifying his warnings remind conservatives that standing up for Jewish Americans is both a moral duty and a defense of American values. Patriots who love free speech must also reject the poisonous idea that hate should be tolerated as an expression of ideology; defend the right to speak, but never to intimidate or threaten.
