(NewsNation) — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., decried what he sees as the White House’s silence amid growing campus protests over the Gaza war, calling it “deafening.”
Johnson made the comments in an exclusive interview with NewsNation’s Blake Burman on “The Hill,” where he discussed the escalating campus protests, border issues and his future in leadership.
Burman asked Johnson what he makes of President Joe Biden’s response to the pro-Palestinian protests occurring on college campuses. Johnson said it has become a political problem for the Democrats, who he believes are fearful of losing Michigan and Nevada voters ahead of the November election.
“The silence is deafening. The president needs to speak with moral clarity in this fateful moment of our country,” he said. “We’re doing that. I’m doing that as the House speaker. My colleagues in the House are doing that. But Chuck Schumer has been pretty silent on this and President Biden noticeably.”
“But this is no time for politics. There’s no time for equivocation. This is not a gray area. This is right and wrong, and the president of the United States should speak to that and say that clearly,” Johnson said.
When asked what Congress could do if universities do not, in his view, get their acts together, Johnson suggested pulling federal funding for university grants.
“There’s a lot of federal funding that makes its way into these institutions. And if they cannot respect the most basic constitutional rights, the civil rights of their students and protect them, their safety, then they don’t deserve to be funded by the taxpayer,” he said.
Johnson said there is a lot of discussion about whether universities should be taxed, saying they also get very generous tax benefits.
“We have to do what we must to stamp this out,” he said. “This antisemitism movement is dangerous. This is not protected, constitutionally protected free speech.”
Johnson says the protests are now far over the line.
“This is inciting violence. They are physically threatening fellow students, closing campuses down, occupying buildings and destroying property,” he said. “These are common criminals, and they need to be treated as such.”
The White House has condemned the move by student protesters to take over a building on Columbia University’s campus, calling it the “wrong approach.”
“The president believes that forcibly taking over a building on campus is absolutely the wrong approach; that is not an example of peaceful protests,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters.
Johnson suggested the FBI step in and investigate.
“I think the FBI needs to be all over this,” he said. “I think they need to look at the root causes and find out if some of this was funded by, I don’t know, George Soros or overseas entities.”
Johnson said there seems to be a common theme and common strategy that seems to be pursued on many of these campuses.
“I noticed myself and many of us did while we were on-site at Columbia University. The tents at their little encampment there, many of them match. They were the same color, make and model,” he said. “Did somebody purchase that and send it in? It looks pretty orchestrated to me.”
Johnson on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
In the interview, Johnson also commented on his future in leadership.
Johnson has faced ouster threats from one of his Republican colleagues, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia saying Wednesday she would call a vote for his removal again next week.
Burman asked Johnson about his future in office and whether he thinks Greene is a serious lawmaker.
Johnson responded by saying Greene isn’t proving to be a serious lawmaker.
“Bless her heart,” he said. “I don’t think she’s proving to be.”