Speaker Johnson: Columbia Shouldn’t Get Taxpayer Dollars

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime,” House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) stated that Columbia University and other schools that “are engaging in this kind of nonsense” similar to what’s happening at Columbia do not deserve to get taxpayer dollars.

Johnson said that what’s happening at Columbia “is not the expression of free speech, it’s not the free exchange of ideas in the public square. This is threatening and intimidating Jewish students because of who they are, because of what they believe. We met with a big group of Jewish students before we went to the campus, and they’re hiding in fear. They don’t go to class, they’re afraid they’re going to be assaulted. It’s not fair to them. Some of them had to bring federal lawsuits, civil rights violations that are being committed there, and taxpayer dollars should not be going to institutions that are engaging in this kind of nonsense. If you’re an administrator on a university campus, your number one job, the first and most obvious, is the safety and security of your students. If you can’t guarantee that, we need to find somebody who can.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett