British presenter lashes out at student who refused to work for a Jew: "Antisemite"

British presenter Piers Morgan recently confronted Austin Franco, a student at Cornell University who refused to attend a job interview, claiming he was "not interested in working for a Jew." At the beginning of the interview, Morgan demanded that Franco explain exactly what he meant, and he claimed in response:

"I had bad experiences with Jews at Cornell, they would pick on me and make things up to get me in trouble."

Later, Franco made a comparison between Jews and other populations:

"Suppose you are next to ten midgets, and they all behave very badly towards you, stepping on your feet. You would say: 'Okay, I don't want to be around you anymore.' Maybe that's not a nice thing to say, but do you really need to lose your composure over it, like the Jewish community in the United States did?"

Morgan did not hold back and attacked sharply: "What you just said is even more ridiculous, isn't it? What is the connection? I find it extraordinarily depressing that a young man who has been given the privilege of studying at a top-tier university can be so stupid. Or worse, that he doesn't care about what he says and the consequences his words have for a huge number of people around the world, who see an arrogant young man openly expressing antisemitism."

Later, Morgan clarified that the problem for him is not just the things said, but also the fact that Franco refuses to retract them: "The problem, Austin, is not that you said something childish or stupid. If you had later said: 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that,' that would be one thing. But with you, it's the exact opposite. You really mean it." Franco replied: "You're not letting me explain myself," and Morgan continued: "You explained yourself, you are an antisemite and a hypocrite. Future employers can watch this interview and decide if you have the values they want in their company."

As mentioned, the storm began after 19-year-old Franco applied for an internship at the startup company VryfID, owned by Jewish brothers Gabe and Aidan Einhorn. After being invited to an interview, he replied to them via the job search platform Handshake: "Not interested in working for a Jew. Thanks." The company's CEO, Gabe Einhorn, posted a screenshot of the message on X to, in his words, raise awareness about the rise in antisemitism. In response, Franco did not retract his statement, but published another post in which he wrote that his experiences with Jews "were not pleasant." Following the affair, Cornell University announced that it had opened an investigation into the case.