MSNBC host Chris Hayes viral He spoke out on social media after he complained about anti-Israel protesters smashing windows and occupying a building on Columbia University’s campus on Tuesday.
“I think I’m losing my mind a little: people understand that ‘occupying campus buildings’ is one of the most common forms of student behavior,” the liberal journalist wrote on X on Wednesday. [sic] Decades of protest, not some cunning new tactic devised by professional anarchist masterminds, right?
Hayes’ post became an instant hit, with more than 4.5 million views in about 24 hours. Conservatives attacking MSNBC hosts seemed to give left-wing protesters a pass to break in.
“Imagine posting this publicly without feeling tremendous shame and embarrassment,” conservative radio host Jason Lantz wrote in response.
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Chris Hayes has been mocked for his comments that appeared to be a defense of university protesters who occupied campus buildings earlier this week. (Getty Images)
“The practice of burning down buildings has been around for a long time…it won’t suddenly become legal or right,” writer and Substack reporter Justin Hart responded to Hayes.
“Let me be clear. So by Chris’ logic, when a crime becomes more common, the laws against it shouldn’t be enforced. Got it,” attorney Lil Sinai wrote.
RedState columnist Buzz Patterson added: “Very bad reporting by a really bad reporter.”
Other commentators on social media sites said Hayes would not stand up to defend right-wing protesters who did the same thing.
“How is this any different from any other form of trespassing? Especially when people are smashing doors and windows to break in. You’re definitely going to have problems if some protesters break into the MSNBC studios and refuse to leave. You should that’s illegal ” asked X user TheValuesVoter.
“If you are anti-abortion and ‘occupy a building’ in protest, then you have committed a federal crime and you will be arrested and convicted. Even if this is your first offense, you will be sentenced to years in prison. ” X user Polimath wrote.
The user was referring to abortion protesters in Tennessee and Washington, D.C., who face federal charges and possible jail time for violating the FACE Act by holding demonstrations at abortion clinics.
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NYPD officers enter Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall on Tuesday after protesters barricaded themselves. (NYPD)
Hayes has also been criticized by left-wing users who believe he should have defended protesters more forcefully on his network.
“Dude, I don’t know if you know this, but you work at MSNBC and have quite a bit of influence over your coworkers,” one user wrote.
Another challenged him to illustrate this point on his show.
“Is there any justification for you to be tweeting this out instead of saying it on your show or to your colleagues and holding them accountable for their role in all of this, including justifying genocide?” asked AJ+ reporter Sana Saeed.
When one X user called instigating such behavior “illiberal,” Hayes said that was not his point of view.
“The NYPD seems to be saying that the ‘reason’ for the true show of overwhelming force is that it must have been the work of ‘outside agitators,’ and it seems entirely possible that it was…students,” he wrote. But if it was students, then the question arises why hundreds of police officers and mine-resistant and ambush-resistant vehicles were needed.”
Later that night, Hayes defended anti-Israel protesters on his MSNBC show “All In.”
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He compared the students occupying university buildings to the civil rights protesters at Morehouse College in the 1960s, who locked university trustees in their offices to show that the current protests were less radical.
“College activities have long been part of a university education,” hayes says. But he believes the media “seems to lack a sense of proportion” in reporting on these protests.
Hayes said protesters on college campuses have been receiving “undue media attention” since Oct. 7.
Anti-Israel protesters hang signs at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York City. (Rashid Omar Abbasi, Fox News Digital)
He believes it is easier for the media to focus on college students rather than debating whether it is “morally defensible” to continue U.S. aid to Israel’s Gaza war, given all the children being killed.
This is not the first time Hayes has criticized the university and the media for their treatment of university protesters.
“As a purely tactical matter, mass arrests of protesters appear to have had the opposite effect than intended,” he wrote in an article published on X last month.
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Hayes also shared a post about the lack of “credible coverage” of “anti-Semitic incidents” at the UT Austin protests.
An MSNBC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Fox News’ Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.
