New York Governor Kathy Hochul and other state leaders have criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson’s visit to Columbia University on Wednesday, where he addressed the ongoing pro-Palestinian student protests and called for the university’s president to resign.
Hochul and Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat accused Johnson of politicizing the situation and adding to the division instead of working to resolve the crisis.
Mike Johnson’s visit came during escalating tensions at the Columbia University, where pro-Palestinian protesters have set up an encampment and resisted calls from the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, to disband. The Speaker joined other Republican leaders in demanding Shafik’s resignation, accusing her of failing to guarantee the safety of Jewish students and being “inept” in handling the situation.
Hochul, however, expressed her disapproval of Johnson’s intervention, stating,
“I think politicizing this and bringing the entourage to put a spotlight on this is only adding to the division. A speaker worth the title should really be trying to heal people and not divide them, so I don’t think it adds to anything.”
She suggested that the Speaker should focus on more pressing issues in Washington, such as addressing the migrant crisis and working on a border deal.
Echoing Hochul’s sentiments, Rep. Espaillat, whose district includes Columbia, criticized Johnson for using the moment “to further political division instead of addressing concerns of the American people.”
In response, Johnson’s spokesperson, Athina Lawson, defended the Speaker’s visit, stating that he is going because New York leaders have “completely failed in their duty to protect Jewish students and combat the rise of antisemitism in their party.”
The ongoing protests at Columbia University have sparked concerns about antisemitism and the safety of Jewish students on campus. While Hochul visited the campus privately on Monday, she has refrained from calling for Shafik’s resignation, instead emphasizing the need for negotiations between the university administration and the protesters.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has also avoided joining the calls for Shafik’s resignation, stating that any police response is limited to what the university requests.
