As they left the ceremony, the students chanted “Free, free Palestine,” as a group of other graduates appeared to jeer them.
The walkout triggered many online comments, suggesting that the students were protesting because Seinfeld is Jewish, with some accusing the participants of antisemitism.
Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, posted, “So students at Drake [sic] walk out because the speaker, Jerry Seinfeld, is Jewish? This is antisemitism, cloaked in concern for Gaza.”
Democratic U.S. Rep Daniel Goldman of New York, posted on X, “Jerry Seinfeld is a Jewish American who has nothing at all to do with Israel’s foreign policy or military defense. Holding an American Jew responsible for the actions of the Israeli government is quintessential antisemitism.”