House Speaker Michael Johnson Clashes with Protesters at Columbia University over Israel Conflict and Urges President Biden for Action

House Speaker Michael Johnson from Louisiana struggled with a boisterous crowd during his speech at Columbia University on Wednesday as they protested against Israel’s attacks in Gaza. The campus has been plagued by controversy since students erected tents to oppose the conflict two weeks ago, prompting nationwide headlines and accusations of antisemitism after some Jewish learners reported being subjected to abusive speech. Columbia President Nemat Shafik authorized New York police officers to dismantle the encampment on Thursday. The Students for Justice in Palestine group has claimed that any hateful rhetoric is not coming from their protesters, but instead is spewing out of ‘intimidatory’ individuals who don’t represent them. Johnson urged Shafik to step down if she couldn’t quell the demonstrations during his speech on Wednesday and pledged to encourage President Joe Biden to take executive action against the protests as long they remain unresolved. “If this is not stopped, it has a particular moment at which lawful enforcement by civil authority could come in,” said Johnson about taking forceable steps when all else fails. On Monday, Biden denounced both antisemitism and individuals who are “ignorant of the predicament confronting Palestinians” as he talked to journalists then. The President’s recent move was signing a foreign aid bill for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan that had been shelved in Congress because of political strife; Johnson made sure it came up for debate on Saturday despite threats from some hardline Republican members like Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia). Following seven days of cooperation with Democrats to approve the proposed foreign aid, this Wednesday’s address at Columbia was probably aimed by the Speaker as an effort to demonstrate his conservative values in front of right-wing GOP lawmakers. Rep. Virginia Foxx from North Carolina and New York Representative Mike Lawler also attended Johnson’s speech during which he addressed students protesting inside the encampment, urging them “to go back to class” instead of wasting their parents’ money.”