House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has criticized Columbia University president Minouche Shafik for her handling of antisemitic demonstrations on campus, calling her “a very weak, inept leader” who “cannot even guarantee the safety of Jewish students.” Johnson told radio host Hugh Hewitt that Shafik should resign and that Congress should move to pull federal funds from universities that have let anti-Israel demonstrators run riot on campus.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul accused Johnson of “politicizing” the protests and “adding to the division” by visiting with an “entourage” of Empire State House Republicans, even insisting that the antisemitic demonstrations were not “a real crisis.”
A spokesman for the Republican’s office fired back to The Post, saying that “Speaker Johnson is going to speak to students at Columbia University because Gov. Hochul and other officials in New York have completely failed in their duty to protect Jewish students and combat the rise of antisemitism in their party.”
Every New York House Republican lawmaker, led by conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik, demanded Shafik’s immediate resignation in a letter on Monday, saying it was time for Columbia “to turn the page on this shameful chapter.” The letter came five days after Shafik’s disastrous April 17 testimony to Congress about her handling of antisemitism on campus — during which she said that statements calling for the eradication of Israel and violence against Jews were “hurtful” but did not clarify whether they violated school policies.
A prominent Columbia University rabbi, Elie Buechler, warned Jewish students Sunday to remain at home due to the “extreme antisemitism” of protesters who have taken over campus. Anti-Israel demonstrators have restored dozens of tents at the Morningside Heights school despite the NYPD clearing more than 100 protesters from the illegal encampment last week. Now more than 200 demonstrators at the self-described “People’s University for Palestine” have continued their demands for Columbia to divest from Israel, while chanting antisemitic slurs and harassing and intimidating Jewish students.
Video footage and witnesses have revealed protestors declaring “We are Hamas” and “We don’t want no Zionists here” — with one viral clip showing a young woman holding up a sign with an arrow pointing to an Israeli flag-waving student behind her as “Al-Qas[s]am’s Next Targets,” the name of Hamas’ military brigade. Shafik begged Columbia undergrads to go home on Monday — and all courses have since been moved to hybrid learning options — with the president asking for a “reset” to “address security concerns.”
Johnson will dine with Jewish students and Rabbi Yuda Drizin, the director of Columbia’s Chabad chapter, on Wednesday, before speaking with reporters in the afternoon. Asked by Hewitt whether anti-Israel protests were gripping universities in the House speaker’s home state of Louisiana, Johnson replied bluntly, “No. I don’t believe we’d tolerate that.”
“And if that happened at my alma mater, which is LSU, I’d be down there myself to stop it. I mean, this is outrageous,” Johnson said. “We have Jewish students who have actually been physically assaulted.”
The White House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) have all condemned any antisemitic harassment or intimidation at Columbia — but none have asked Shafik to resign. Johnson also criticized the lack of “strong leadership” in “the White House or even some Democrats in Congress” for allowing the protests to spread. On Wednesday, plans for similar protests to take place at Princeton University were reported by National Review. Over the weekend, a Yale University student journalist was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag during another demonstration.
“The White House is caving to the antisemitic — I call it the pro-Hamas wing of the party now. They’ve backpedaled on their support for Israel,” Johnson told Hewitt. “I mean, and you’ve got members of Congress who refuse to denounce even the chants of ‘Death To America,'” he said, referring to “Squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)
“And some members are, Democrat members of Congress, are even calling these antisemitic mobs peaceful protesters, and defending the harassment, intimidation, and all the rest,” Johnson added, in apparent reference to statements from Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). “It’s really become a serious problem, and they’re allowing mob rule to overtake the American ideals of free speech and the free exchange of ideas and the free exercise of religion. This is not who we are.”
