Washington — House Speaker Mike Johnson was met with loud boos when he visited Columbia University on Wednesday to name for the resignation of the establishment’s president because the campus has been roiled with accusations of antisemitism amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests.
“I am here today joining my colleagues and calling on President [Minouche] Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos,” the Louisiana Republican mentioned to a crowd that drowned out his remarks with boos and chants of “We can’t hear you” and “Mike, you suck.”
Johnson mentioned he briefly met with Shafik and different prime officers to encourage them “to take immediate action and stamp this out.”
“Our feeling is that they have not acted to restore order on the campus,” he mentioned. “This is dangerous. This is not free expression. This is not First Amendment. They are threatening, intimidating.”
The college declined to reply to Johnson’s name for Shafik’s resignation.
Johnson, who additionally met with Jewish college students earlier than his remarks, mentioned he deliberate to name President Biden later Wednesday to induce him to take motion, including that the National Guard might must be deployed.
“If this is not contained quickly, and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard,” he mentioned. “We have to bring order to these campuses.”
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Johnson was joined by GOP Reps. Mike Lawler, Nicole Malliotakis and Anthony D’Esposito, all from New York, and Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.
The go to got here as faculty campuses proceed to be roiled by protests and tensions associated to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Many of the protesters are demanding universities to divest monetary holdings in Israel. At Columbia, demonstrators have taken over a portion of the New York City campus, creating an encampment. The protests have persevered for every week.
University leaders have been toeing a line on specific disdain about antisemitic language and implement college insurance policies whereas additionally permitting college students to observe free speech, as they face accusations that schools are usually not doing sufficient to guard Jewish college students. And tensions have reached a fever pitch at a few of the nation’s most prestigious universities in current days because the demonstrations have worn on.
Meanwhile, Republicans nationally have seized upon a reluctance from college presidents to name out antisemitism on their campuses within the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The dynamic gained steam in December, when a bunch of college presidents testified earlier than a congressional committee. Rep. Elise Stefanik, the GOP convention chair, pressed the directors on the listening to on how they’ve dealt with antisemitic incidents on their campuses.
Since then, Stefanik has led the cost amongst Republicans, pushing for the resignation of the college leaders. The presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard have already resigned. And final week, Columbia’s president turned the newest to testify earlier than Congress.
Johnson’s go to to the campus additional elevates the difficulty, and marks the newest in a collection of visits from lawmakers this week. Every Republican member of New York’s congressional delegation has referred to as for Columbia’s president to resign.
In a letter earlier this week, the group of 10 New York Republicans, which incorporates Stefanik, Malliotakis and Lawler, referred to as on Shafik to step apart, saying the current occasions on the campus and Shafik’s testimony earlier than Congress left them with “no confidence” within the president’s management.
“The ongoing situation that has unfolded is a direct symptom of your continued lax enforcement of policy and clear double standards,” the letter says. “While the rot is systemic, the responsibility rests squarely on your shoulders.”
Nikole Killion contributed reporting.
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