House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Monday called on Columbia University's board of trustees to remove Minouche Shafik as president after failing to handle on-campus anti-Israel protests and for ceding "control to Hamas supporters."
Johnson issued a statement soon after Columbia announced the school was canceling its main commencement ceremony due to on-campus anti-Israel protests.
"President Shafik and Columbia University administrators have displayed a shocking unwillingness to control their campus. They've allowed outside agitators and terrorist-sympathizing students and faculty to rewrite campus rules and spew vile, anti-Jewish aggression.
"Now, thousands of students who’ve worked hard to achieve their degrees will not get the recognition they deserve," Johnson said in his statement posted on X.
"Because it is abundantly clear that President Shafik would rather cede control to Hamas supporters than restore order, Columbia’s Board of Trustees should immediately remove her and appoint a new president who will. Our once great universities desperately need strong moral leadership, now more than ever."
Johnson previously called on Shafik to resign after showing she was a "very weak, inept leader" amid the protests.
Columbia on Monday canceled its main, university-wide commencement ceremony scheduled for May 15 in favor of smaller, school-based events, a decision that follows weeks of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests that roiled the Ivy League school.
Late last month, Johnson and several other GOP lawmakers traveled to Columbia to meet with Jewish students and to deliver a speech amidst the ongoing on-campus protests, which the speaker said was "backed" by Hamas.
The protests at Columbia escalated after Shafik testified during an April 17 House committee hearing concerning antisemitism on college campuses.
Shafik broke her silence Friday night, releasing a three-minute video about the events that led to police being asked to liberate an administration building that was illegally occupied by anti-Israel protesters.
After negotiating with the protesters, who were illegally encamped for more than a week, Shafik said the university's hand was forced when the protesters "crossed a new line" in taking over Hamilton Hall.
"It was a violent act that put our students at risk as well as putting the protesters at risk," Shafik said.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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