Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Thursday that she had been “communicating [her] concerns” to the University of Washington over the school’s decision to cancel a planned appearance by antisemitic influencer Hasan Piker, and pushed student groups to engage with the streamer.

The University of Washington “informed me that they are doing an internal review to ensure this never happens again,” Jayapal wrote in a post on X. “I encourage student groups who want to hear from Mr. Piker to work with the University to ensure that they can proceed.” She linked in her post a Seattle Times article on Piker claiming he was silenced over his views on Israel.

Framing the cancellation as a First Amendment issue, Jayapal said: “As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I have been absolutely clear that free speech is a Constitutional right that we must all stand up and protect.”

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), a pro-Israel Democrat who recently lost his primary to former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, criticized Jayapal’s defense of Piker. Responding to her post, Goldman said that the school “has obligations under Title VI” to “not create a hostile environment” for Jewish students.

“Given [Piker’s] repeated and overtly antisemitic (and anti-American) statements, no federally funded university should sanction a platform for Piker to speak,” Goldman wrote.

The comments followed statements from Piker a day earlier, in which he denounced Democrats for failing to “speak out against this clear violation” of the First Amendment, attributing the decision to his “position as a prominent critic of Israel.”

The university defended its decision in a statement, maintaining that the event was canceled after it “was determined that the process for organizing this event did not meet the necessary level of rigor for University-hosted events.”

Piker has previously drawn criticism for extremist statements, including remarks that America “deserved” the 9/11 terrorist attacks and calling Hamas, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, “a thousand times better than Israel.” 

Jayapal’s office did not respond to a request for comment.