Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hailed the “peaceful” student-led protests at Columbia University Monday, one day after campus rabbi Elie Buechler warned Jewish students to leave due to “extreme antisemitism.”
The “Squad” member’s praise for the demonstrations on Morningside Heights came as she introduced President Biden at an Earth Day event at Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Va.
“Today also serves as a reminder of the power of organizing, of what we can accomplish when young people, climate advocates, labor organizers and working people of all backgrounds come together to demand the future we all deserve,” the Bronx and Queens rep said.
“It is especially important that we remember the power of young people shaping the country today of all days, as we once again witness the leadership of those peaceful student-led protests on campuses like Columbia, Yale, Berkeley and many others,” Ocasio-Cortez added.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University:
On Sunday, Buechler issued a stunning WhatsApp message to Jewish students at Columbia University warning them away due to the spate of anti-Israel protests on campus.
Officials canceled in-person classes at Columbia Monday amid widespread unrest, which attracted national attention and drew condemnation from the Biden administration.
“This blatant Antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous — and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country,” Biden said in a statement Sunday.
After Ocasio Cortez wrapped up her remarks, Biden, 81, took the stage and lauded her.
“Representative Ocasio-Cortez of New York, I learned a long time ago to listen to that lady,” he quipped.
What to know about the antisemitism controversy at Columbia University:
Both Biden and Ocasio-Cortez have taken heat from their progressive base over the Israel-Hamas war.
Last month, after the lawmaker and her fiance Riley Roberts were accosted by anti-Israel demonstrators outside a Brooklyn movie theater, she called the Israel-Hamas war a “genocide.”
Although she voted against the $26.38 billion assistance package for Israel that passed the House Saturday and included humanitarian relief for the Gaza Strip, Ocasio-Cortez joined a statement affirming support for “strengthening the Iron Dome and other defense systems.”
She has also long encouraged progressives to back Biden in the Nov. 5 election, warning about the potential ramifications of former President Donald Trump returning to the White House.
Following the conclusion of their remarks, Biden and Ocasio-Cortez walked off the stage together and spoke, though it wasn’t clear what was said.
After the Earth Day event, Biden, Ocasio-Cortez as well as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass), hopped onto fossil fuel-powered Marine One back to the White House for a brief meeting.
