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April 24, 2024 For Immediate Release Contact: Taylor Haulsee
“They cannot even guarantee the safety of Jewish students. They’re expected to run for their lives and stay home from class.”
WASHINGTON — Today, Speaker Johnson joined the Hugh Hewitt Show ahead of his meeting with Jewish students at Columbia University to discuss the troubling rise of virulent antisemitism on American college campuses.
Click here to listen to the full interview
On the Speaker’s visit to Columbia:
What we’re seeing on these college campuses across the country is disgusting and unacceptable. And we have to – every leader in this country, every political official, every citizen of good conscience – has to speak out and say that this is not who we are in America, and we got to have accountability and that’s what my colleagues and I are going to be working on.
On the national rise of antisemitism:
We have Jewish students who have actually been physically assaulted, they’ve been harassed and been intimidated and threatened. What we need to be doing is, I love the clip from Tom Cotton. My friend Tom said before your break, we need to revoke federal funding to these universities that they cannot keep control. We need to revoke these student visas for these violent protesters. You don’t have a right to be here and to do this, but Jewish students have a right to be able to peacefully attend classes.
They’re trying to get an education, and this is just madness. And you know, I’ve seen some of these man on the street interviews with some of these kids who are protesting. You and I both know the vast majority of them have no idea what they’re talking about. They don’t know the facts. Some of them are denying that October 7 even happened. I mean, it’s just ridiculous. And we’re calling upon and demanding these university officials to get control. This situation is just completely out of control right now.
On Democrats failure to counter antisemitism in their party:
I’ll tell you that the real problem we have right now is that we’re not getting strong leadership, obviously from the White House or even some Democrats in Congress. I mean, the White House is caving to the antisemitic, I call it the pro-Hamas wing of the party. Now they backpedaled on their support for Israel. I mean, if you get members of Congress refusing to denounce even the chants of death to America, they just go silent. They won’t call that out and some members, Democratic members of Congress, are even calling these antisemitic mobs peaceful protesters and defending the harassment, intimidation and all the rest. So it’s really become a serious problem. And they’re allowing mob rule to overtake the American ideals of free speech and the free exchange of ideas and in the free exercise of religion. This is not who we are.
On the national security supplemental:
I know that history is going to judge this well. It was the right thing to do. This is a this is a very dangerous time. We truly do have a new Axis of Evil. You have China, Russia, and Iran, and often North Korea working together in coordination. They’re funding one another’s aggression. And the reason you and I both know, and you highlight this all the time, the reason this is happening is because the current president is projecting weakness on the world stage and our adversaries are acting aggressively and provocatively, and taking advantage of that.
So, we had this moment in time, Hugh, this historic question: would America stand by our allies stand by Israel, the beleaguered people of Ukraine in this pivotal moment? Or would we shrink back and, in my view, abdicate our obvious responsibility and role in the world? I don’t believe we need to be the world’s policeman. I don’t believe that is our burden. But I do believe that the perception of a strong America is essential on the world stage. And I think the Congress has acted to make sure that happens.
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