Crowd boos as House speaker condemns Columbia pro-Palestine protests

(NewsNation) — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke at Columbia University Wednesday, calling on the school’s president to resign amid continuing protests at the college against the war in Gaza.

Johnson was greeted with boos from students, who shouted at him to go back to Washington, D.C. The noise of protesters nearly drowned Johnson out at points during his speech.

The speaker invoked the Founding Fathers as he began to talk.

“We are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights,” he began, quoting the Declaration of Independence. Johnson then spoke against what he called “mob rule” and accused protesters of chasing down Jewish students and harassing them.

“The virus of antisemitism has spread across other campuses,” Johnson said. “The madness has to stop.”

Students jeered as Johnson spoke against protests at colleges and universities across the country. He called the bravery of Jewish students greater than the bravery exhibited by the behavior of protesters.

Johnson also invoked the memory of 9/11 when speaking of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and criticized faculty who have joined protests. He also accused protesters of coopting the language of free speech to spread antisemitism.

He called on Columbia President Minouche Shafik to resign unless she could bring control to the campus. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., also spoke, saying the “inmates were running the asylum.”

Protesters shouted “stop the genocide” as other Republican leaders spoke. The Republicans accused protesters of being part of the problem and supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., called protesters a “pathetic abomination” as he said the only way to support a cease-fire would be to call on Hamas to release hostages and surrender.

Lawler also said if the university did not act to clear the protests, Congress would take action. Johnson suggested federal funding for the university could be in jeopardy if protests continued. He also said he was calling on President Joe Biden to use the National Guard to put an end to protests.

When asked about Jewish students who were taking part in the encampment, Johnson responded that he didn’t know who was there. He also accused students of wasting their parents’ money and said they were intimidating fellow students.

Police said previously there were no credible threats of violence from protests on Columbia’s campus.

While lawmakers have denounced the protests as antisemitic and supporting Hamas, the stated aim of protesters is to demand an end to the military action that has killed thousands of civilians in Gaza. Jewish students taking part in protests have accused people of weaponizing antisemitism to silence them.

Columbia University said Wednesday that it is continuing to be in discussions with student protesters taking part in a Gaza Solidarity Encampment on campus as similar demonstrations continue at colleges across the country.

Students at Columbia set up the tent encampments to demand the school divest from companies that they say “profit from Israeli apartheid” and in protest of Israel’s military action in Gaza that has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, the number reported by the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Over 100 people were arrested at Columbia last Thursday, leading students at other colleges to create their own encampments in solidarity.

NewsNation’s Cassie Buchman contributed to this report.