House speaker condemned for remarks on pro-Palestine student protests

Republican Mike Johnson accused of ‘wilfully spreading misinformation’ and ‘inciting violence’ after CNN interview

Progressive activists have condemned Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, for “willfully spreading misinformation” and “inciting violence” in a TV interview about student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.

Johnson, who was booed and heckled during a press conference at Columbia University on Wednesday, when he said Hamas “backed” the protests in a CNN interview. There is no evidence Hamas has had any role in the student protests, though the organization has praised the demonstration. The Republican went on to make sweeping, incendiary claims: “Some of these students apparently are unaware of the atrocities of October 7 or they’re denying it.