Politics

Columbia University President Appears To Mock Ultra Liberal Students After Republican Asks Her Question During Hearing

An Ivy League president appeared to mock liberal language. [Screenshot/X/daveweigel]

[Screenshot/X/daveweigel]

Julianna Frieman Contributor
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Columbia University President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik appeared to mock liberal students Wednesday as she distanced herself from altered language found in material from the school when pressed by a Republican Indiana Rep. Jim Banks.

Shafik testified Wednesday to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce as part of a probe regarding the school’s antisemitism response, NBC News reported. Shafik shied away from defending Columbia University materials misspelling the word “folks” when asked about it by Banks, seeming to joke that “they don’t know how to spell.”

“Okay, can you help me understand something else? I didn’t go to an Ivy League school, admittedly. What — can you, can you explain why the word ‘folks’ is spelled ‘f-o-l-x’ throughout this guidebook and in other places at the school’s social work? What does that mean?” Banks asked. “Serious question.”

“They don’t know how to spell?” Shafik replied. “I mean, I’m not familiar with that spelling,”

“I’m not,” Banks said, “I don’t find it a laughing matter —”

“I’m not — no, I’m not laughing either,” Shafik stammered. “I think it’s, I really don’t —”

“You’re denying that this is an official product of the school, but this is handed out to all of your … you are aware that this is handed out to all of your students and you’re not doing anything to stop it,” Banks said. (RELATED: ‘You Are A War Criminal!’: Hillary Clinton Immediately Gets Heckled While Giving Speech At Columbia University)

“As I said, it’s not an official product of the administration,” Shafik replied.

“Is this how Columbia University spells the word ‘folks?'” Banks asked.

“No,” Shafik replied.


Spelling “folks” as “folx” is likely more than a simple typo. Adding an “x” to the end of the word while removing the “ks” is a modification made by liberals to address LGBT people, described as the “deliberate queerification” of the word by Cosmopolitan.

The word “Latinx” was crafted by liberals to supersede the words “Latino” and “Latina” in another attempt to “queerify” words. President Joe Biden has quietly stopped using “Latinx” in favor of “Latino” as he struggles to garner Hispanic support for his reelection bid.