House Speaker Johnson to visit Columbia, talk with Jewish students amid 'virulent antisemitism'

House Speaker Mike Johnson  is set to visit Columbia University on Wednesday to meet with Jewish students amid pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

The Louisiana Republican will discuss the “troubling rise of virulent antisemitism on America’s college campuses,” according to his office. 

The protest began last week, with hundreds of students and outside protesters demonstrating on Columbia’s campus on the Upper West Side of New York City. At least 100 people were arrested Friday, but the protest encampment have continued with similar ones in recent days forming at other college campuses across the country. 

Demonstrators are demanded Columbia divest from companies with ties to Israel. They also are protesting the Biden administration’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, backing a cease-fire in the conflict and urging Congress to stop sending military aid to Israel, according to The Hill newspaper.

The White House this past weekend called the emonstrations “blatantly antisemitic.”

The leader of the protest at Columbia rejected claims that participants encouraged violence against Jewish people or advocated for antisemitism.