{"id":2230685,"date":"2024-04-26T05:32:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T09:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/columbia-protests-give-mike-johnson-chance-to-turn-page-on-ukraine-divisions\/"},"modified":"2024-04-26T05:35:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T09:35:03","slug":"columbia-protests-give-mike-johnson-chance-to-turn-page-on-ukraine-divisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/columbia-protests-give-mike-johnson-chance-to-turn-page-on-ukraine-divisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia Protests Offer Mike Johnson Opportunity for Unity after Ukraine Discord"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcolumbia-protests-give-mike-johnson-chance-to-turn-page-on-ukraine-divisions%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2230685&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Speaker\u200b Mike\u2062 Johnson (R-LA) is strategically using the\u2064 anti-Israel protests at\u200d Columbia and other universities to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-man-calls-911-on-himself-says-black-teen-has-gun-then-claims-racial-profiling\/\" title=\"Report: Man Calls 911 On Himself, Says Black Teen Has Gun, Then Claims Racial Profiling\">create division<\/a> among Democrats following an \u200dintraparty clash over Ukraine. He faces challenges from the right wing but aims to unite the party by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rutgers-administrators-apologize-for-condemning-anti-semitism\/\" title=\"Rutgers Administrators Apologize for Condemning Anti-Semitism\">addressing antisemitism<\/a> and the ongoing Gaza conflict, positioning himself amidst criticism and support within the\u200b GOP. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is navigating interparty tensions by leveraging anti-Israel protests to instigate division among Democrats \u2063post-Ukraine discord. Despite \u2062facing resistance\u2062 from the \u200cright wing, he seeks to unify the party \u2064through \u2064addressing antisemitism and the Gaza conflict, positioning himself\u200d amidst a mix of \u2062criticism and support within the GOP.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is moving to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/2978428\/johnson-stares-down-jeers-at-hostile-columbia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>divide Democrats<\/a> on the wave of anti-Israel protests at Columbia and other universities as he attempts to overcome the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/2978271\/johnson-turn-down-house-temperature-rebels-weigh-revolt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>fallout from an intraparty fight<\/a> over Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson is navigating a sense of betrayal from his right flank after allowing funding for Ukraine to pass the House on Saturday. Hard-line Republicans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/2974205\/freedom-caucus-defends-moves-ukraine-funding-senate-border-aid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>demanded the southern border be secured<\/a> before agreeing to the aid, while some were unwilling to prolong the conflict with Russia under any circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is threatening to oust Johnson over the vote, while a handful of her colleagues have not ruled out the possibility.<\/p>\n<p>The vote caps off a dramatic falling out between Johnson and the conference\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mccarthy-touts-early-house-momentum-as-biggest-challenges-lie-ahead\/\" title=\"McCarthy touts early House momentum as biggest challenges lie ahead\">hard-line members<\/a> since he assumed the speakership in October. He has also drawn their anger for the deals he cut with Democrats on 2024 spending and warrantless surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson is not waiting for the House to return on Monday, however, to find out whether those conservatives will attempt to remove him. He has gone on offense with the Columbia protests as Democrats grapple with the harassment of Jewish students in and around campuses protesting Israel\u2019s casualty-heavy war against Hamas.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Johnson traveled to Columbia University, the epicenter of those protests, to condemn the antisemitism while vowing Congress \u201cwill not be silent\u201d on the issue. Next week, the House will <a href=\"https:\/\/rules.house.gov\/news\/announcement\/meeting-announcement-april-29-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>consider<\/a> the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would <a href=\"https:\/\/jewishinsider.com\/2024\/04\/senate-lawmakers-bipartisan-ihra-definition-antisemitism-department-of-education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>codify a Trump-era executive order<\/a> directing the Education Department to treat antisemitism at universities as a Civil Rights Act violation.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to the media on the Lower Library steps on Columbia University\u2019s campus in New York, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo\/Stefan Jeremiah)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The House already passed a resolution condemning college antisemitism in December and just last week dragged the president of Columbia to Washington for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/2969523\/columbia-president-professors-under-investigation-antisemitism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>congressional hearing<\/a>. But Republicans see the fresh wave of protests, which have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/2978801\/police-shut-down-pro-palestinian-protest-texas-university\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>spread to universities<\/a> across the country, as a chance to recenter the national conversation on an issue that brings the party together while sharply splitting Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>More than 120 House Democrats voted for the campus antisemitism resolution, which also condemned the \u201cevasive and dismissive\u201d testimony of three other university presidents, while 84 Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2590644\/house-passes-resolution-condemning-college-presidents-response-to-antisemitism-on-campus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>voted against it<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats\u2019 inability to call out pro-Hamas factions gave the speaker an easy opportunity to unite the party, and he smartly seized the moment,\u201d said one House GOP leadership aide, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n<p>The pivot by Johnson has not quieted his Republican critics. On Wednesday, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepAndyBiggsAZ\/status\/1783285632078364727\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>continued to pan the speaker<\/a> in media appearances for allowing a floor vote on Ukraine aid despite a majority of Republicans opposing it.<\/p>\n<p>He is among the eight <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/these-are-the-risks-facing-putin-and-his-inner-circle\/\" title=\"These are the Risks Facing Putin and His Inner Circle\">hard-liners<\/a> who voted to oust Johnson\u2019s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, last year and has not ruled out doing so again.<\/p>\n<p>But Johnson did receive <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/chiproytx\/status\/1783251667992858643?s=46&#038;t=oYTIYwEqmPpaQCOEPM8xZA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>praise<\/a> from Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), one of the Freedom Caucus members upset over Ukraine. In a Wednesday post on X, he applauded the visit to Columbia despite their \u201cstrong disagreements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The issue is a natural choice for Republicans. Beyond the Gaza war, which has caused a rift between pro-Israel Democrats and progressives calling for a ceasefire, it brings the theme of law and order together with the GOP\u2019s disdain for elite universities. Johnson called on Columbia President Nemat \u201cMinouche\u201d Shafik to resign if she cannot get the protests under control.<\/p>\n<p>But one House staffer, who asked only to be cited as a conservative aide, said Johnson is \u201cnot going to be able to just message the majority back together after choosing a coalition with Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McCarthy tried a similar tactic as he faced his own ouster threat. He unilaterally opened an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, seen as a last-ditch move to appease the hard-liners furious over the debt limit deal he cut with the president. He was removed from the speakership three weeks later.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson is likely to avoid a similar fate. Democrats have already signaled they will provide the votes needed to keep him in the speaker\u2019s chair for the remainder of this Congress, a gesture of gratitude for his decision to bring Ukraine aid to the floor.<\/p>\n<p>But that has not stopped a war of words between Johnson and his Democratic counterparts. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), who represents the district where Columbia University is located, <a href=\"https:\/\/espaillat.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/statement-representative-adriano-espaillat-ahead-speaker-johnson%E2%80%99s-visit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>signaled openness<\/a> to legislative opportunities to \u201ceradicate antisemitism whenever possible\u201d on Wednesday, but he rejected Johnson\u2019s visit to campus as an attempt to use \u201cthis moment to further his political interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the state\u2019s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, accused Johnson of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/04\/24\/mike-johson-columbia-new-york-hochul-00154114\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>adding to the division<\/a>\u201d with his \u201cspotlight\u201d on the protests.<\/p>\n<p>Shafik, after calling in the police to arrest protesters who had set up pro-Palestinian encampments on the Columbia campus, has engaged in days of talks to de-escalate tensions. Over the weekend, Jewish students were targeted by demonstrators seemingly unaffiliated with the campus, prompting Shafik to implement hybrid instruction for the remainder of the semester.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is strategically leveraging anti-Israel protests at Columbia and other universities to create division among Democrats. He aims to mend rifts caused by a recent intraparty clash over Ukraine funding, balancing concerns of betrayal from the right flank with his decision to support the House&#8217;s Ukraine funding bill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2651,"featured_media":2230686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24115740901773-1024x591.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2230685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24115740901773-1024x591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2230685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2230685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2230685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2230686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2230685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2230685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2230685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}