Students at Columbia University heckled Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) during his speech on Wednesday, addressing the rise of antisemitism on college and university campuses in the past week.
As Johnson began his speech at Columbia University, the crowd could be heard booing.
“We are standing here right now on the steps of the Low Library. In this very building right behind us, Columbia University once awarded Winston Churchill an honorary degree,” Johnson said. “And, it was Churchill who said, ‘It is manifestly right that Jews should have a national home where they may be reunited.’ We believe in that principle. And, today, I’m here to proclaim, to all those who gnash their teeth and demand to wipe the state of Israel off the map and attack our innocent Jewish students, this simple truth: neither Israel nor these Jewish students on this campus will ever stand alone.”
Video footage posted to X showed Columbia University students in the crowd shouting, “Get the f**k off our campus!” as Johnson was speaking.
The Speaker of the House’s visit to Columbia University comes as, a week ago, anti-Israel protesters took over the lawn of the university and established an encampment. On Thursday, more than 100 protesters involved in the anti-Israel encampment, including Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) daughter, Isra Hirsi, were arrested, and a handful of students were suspended from Barnard College, including Hirsi, for their involvement in the encampment.
Since then, anti-Israel encampments, protests, and rallies have sprouted up at universities and colleges across the nation such as Yale University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Rochester in New York, and the University of North Carolina, in support of the initial encampment at Columbia University.
Johnson continued to address a statement issued by Hamas, a U.S.-designated Islamic terror group, calling the anti-Israel protesters on colleges and universities “the future leaders of America.”
“It is detestable,” Johnson added. “The cherished traditions of this university are being overtaken right now by radical and extreme ideologies. They place a target on the backs of Jewish students in the United States and here on this campus, a growing number of students have chanted in support of terrorists. They have chased down Jewish students, they have mocked them and reviled them.”
When asked by a reporter what Johnson’s message to the anti-Israel supporters inside the encampment was, he said, “My message to the students inside the encampment is, go back to class and stop the nonsense. Look, if we want to have a debate on campus about the merits of these things, lets do that. But, you can’t intimidate your fellow students and make them stay home from class. Think about that. Is that right? Do you think that’s right?”