In 2015, a Jewish advocacy organization called my office and asked whether we could put Nazis on a college campus. Not real ones. Hired ones. Before I explain why I turned it down, I should say the harder thing: The tactic was sound. It would have worked.

Here is what it would have produced. Twenty people on a recognizable part of a well-known campus on a weekday afternoon, with imagery unambiguous enough that nobody needs a caption to understand what they are looking at. Students film it because students always film it. The first clip is online within the hour, and we did not post it. A horrified 19-year-old did. That is exactly what makes it credible. By that evening, large accounts on the left and right are sharing it for their own reasons. By the next morning, the university has issued a statement. Within days, there is a real chance of national coverage and congressional offices asking what is being done about antisemitism on American campuses. That was the objective. It was achievable, and it would have cost a fraction of what the organization was already spending on an approach that was not working.