Speaker of the House Mike Johnson Columbia University President Minoush Shafik is calling for her resignation, calling her “very weak” and “incompetent” over her handling of anti-Israel protests on campus.
Johnson said during the press conference. Hugh Hewitt radio interview He will hold a press conference later today at Columbia University “along with several of my House Republican colleagues from New York” and say he will call for the president’s resignation.
“This President Shafik has proven to be a very weak and incompetent leader. Can’t even guarantee the safety of Jewish students? Are they expected to run for their lives and skip classes? It’s infuriating,” Johnson said. he said. “What we are seeing on college campuses across the country is disgusting and unacceptable, and every leader, every political official, every citizen of conscience in this country must speak out. We have to say, ‘This is not who we are in America.’ And we have to be accountable, and that’s what my colleagues and I are working on.”
New York House Republicans called for Shafik’s resignation in a joint letter Monday. On Wednesday, Columbia University posted on its website that “student demonstrators worked to dismantle and remove a significant number of tents” at the university’s encampment, among other efforts to de-escalate tensions from anti-Israel protests. did.
Anti-Israel campus protesters make demands on administrators, vowing to stop action until university responds
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is calling on Columbia University President Minoush Shafiq to resign. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite/Jose Luis Magana)
“There are Jewish students who are actually being physically assaulted, harassed, and threatened…If the universities cannot maintain control, we need to revoke federal funding for these universities. “There is,” Johnson said. “We need to revoke the student visas of these violent protesters. You have no right to be here and do this, but Jewish students have the right to attend class peacefully. “They’re trying to get an education.” This is just madness.
Mr Johnson also told Mr Hewitt: “I have seen some of the men interviewing children in the street who are protesting, and you and I both know that the majority of children are I know that you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Live updates: Anti-Israel protests on US college campuses
Anti-Israel agitators set up an encampment on the Columbia University campus on Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York City. (Peter Garber)
“They don’t know the facts. Some of them deny that October 7 even happened. That’s ridiculous,” he continued. “And while we trust, call and demand that university officials take control of the situation, it is completely out of control right now.”
Prime Minister Johnson also harshly criticized the Biden administration for its response to the issue, saying, “The real problem we have right now is that we clearly don’t have strong leadership from the White House and even some Democrats in Congress.” “We have not done so,” he said.
New York City police officers patrol as pro-Palestinian demonstrators demonstrate outside the Columbia University campus on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York City. (Peter Garber, Fox News Digital)
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“The White House is now capitulating to the party’s anti-Semites (which I call pro-Hamas factions) who have backed away from support for Israel and even denounced the ‘speech of death.’ There are some members of Congress who refuse to do so.”When you say, “To America!” they just shut up, they don’t shout that,” he added. “Some Democratic members of Congress are calling these anti-Semitic mobs ‘peaceful protesters’ and defending their harassment and intimidation of all the rest. This is a real problem. They are allowing mob rule to overtake American ideals of free speech, liberalism, the exchange of ideas and the free exercise of religion, which is not who we are. ”
