New York Gov. Kathy Hochul slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson for visiting Columbia University amid pro-Palestinian protests by students on the campus.
“I think politicizing this and bringing the entourage to put a spotlight on this is only adding to the division,” Ms. Hochul told reporters, according to Politico. “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.”
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, visited the Ivy League school Wednesday to discuss antisemitism. The university is grappling with students protesting against Israel, with tents set up on campus and some students arrested.
The speaker called on Columbia President Minouche Shafik to resign, saying she has “shown to be a very weak, inept leader [who] cannot even guarantee the safety of Jewish students.”
New York’s Republican House delegation as a whole called on the president to resign.
Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, said Mr. Johnson would be better off figuring out a border deal that could help New York as the city struggles to deal with the illegal immigration flood.
“It seems to me there’s a lot more responsibilities and crises to be dealt with in Washington,” she said. “I’d encourage the speaker to go back and perhaps take up the migrant bill, the bill to deal with closing the borders, so we can deal with the real crisis that New York has.”
Republicans rejected that legislation because it would allow 5,000 illegals to cross the border daily.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, New York Democrat whose district encompasses Columbia, agreed with Ms. Hochul that Mr. Johnson shouldn’t be getting involved.
“Antisemitism feeds on division,” he wrote on X Wednesday. “@SpeakerJohnson is unduly using this moment to further political division instead of addressing concerns of the American people.”