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Former US president Donald Trump has praised Congresswoman Elise Stefanik over her intense grilling of university heads during a hearing investigating anti-Semitism on college campuses last week.

"Thank you Elise, what a job she's done," Trump said during the New York Young Republican Club's 111th annual gala in New York on Saturday.

"I watched the way she was asking the questions and they were asked in a very complex way and these women—who I guess are smart—but boy they were really dumb answers."

The university presidents of Harvard, MIT and UPenn received an intense grilling last Tuesday from Congresswoman Stefanik during a hearing investigating anti-Semitism on college campuses.

In her final line of questioning, Ms Stefanik pressed the academic heads about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates their codes of conduct on bullying and harassment.

The presidents declined to label such calls as bullying and harassment, stating it depended upon the "context" and whether it had translated into actionable behaviour.

"It does not depend on the context the answer is yes, and this is why you should resign. These are unacceptable answers across the board," Ms Stefanik said.

Following a failed attempt to walk back her remarks, Liz Magill resigned on Saturday as president of the University of Pennsylvania.

Trump commented on her resignation during the Young Republican's gala dinner, saying, "one down, two to go".