House Speaker Mike Johnson dared President Biden to visit Columbia University. (Getty Images)
"In fact, after we left the campus, I made a call to senior policy advisers in the White House. The president was on the road as I was, and we did not connect immediately. But I've encouraged him to go and see it for himself," he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response.
Earlier Tuesday, White House spokesman Andrew Bates released a statement condemning Columbia student protesters' takeover of a campus building called Hamilton Hall.
"President Biden has stood against repugnant, antisemitic smears and violent rhetoric his entire life. He condemns the use of the term ‘intifada,’ as he has the other tragic and dangerous hate speech displayed in recent days," Bates said. "President Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful. Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful – it is wrong. And hate speech and hate symbols have no place in America."
It comes as college campuses around the country are seeing a wave of anti-Israel demonstrations that sparked when Columbia University students and those at their sister school, Barnard College, were arrested for setting up an encampment on the Manhattan Ivy League's grounds. The protests, done in opposition to Columbia's investments in companies with Israeli ties, have continued since then.
The committees involved are Education & the Workforce, Energy & Commerce, Oversight, the Judiciary, Ways & Means and the committee on Science, Space & Technology.
TRUMP SAYS 4 WORDS ABOUT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES AS ARRESTS SKYROCKET
House Education & Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx said her panel would hold another hearing on antisemitism on college campuses next month. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A spokesperson for the Energy & Commerce Committee, for example, told Fox News Digital that Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., would look into taxpayer-funded National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants that go to colleges and universities.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., indicated his panel would look into where the nationwide protests' funding was coming from – suggesting he suspected a coordinated effort.
"It appears global elites are funding these hateful protests and pop up tent cities. These are the same groups that fund other radical agendas, including diminishing America's energy production and pushing soft on crime policies that harm the American people," Comer said. "The House Oversight Committee will follow the money trail, expose it to the American people, and seek to hold bad actors funding hate accountable."
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.
Subscribed
You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter!
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/johnson-demands-biden-visit-columbia-university-anti-israel-occupation