Is free speech in a state of crisis on college campuses? Those with a strong opinion say it’s either a dire concern, citing disrupted speeches, or blown way out of proportion in response to cherry-picked incidents. Many conservatives will argue the former, but you can apparently count President Trump as one of the skeptics.
Charlie Kirk, executive director of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, spoke with Trump at a panel discussion on Thursday.
Their conversation covered the recent changes to the tax code, vocational schools, and political correctness. Kirk also requested advice from the president for the “young patriots and conservatives on campus that support your agenda that are being ridiculed and silenced because administrators are clamping down on free speech.”
The president responded that one or two campuses get all the publicity. (Trump last year raised the idea of revoking federal funds from the University of California at Berkeley following the violent protests against a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos.)
But he appeared to ultimately brush aside Kirk’s premise. He said the “vast majority” of people on campuses “want free speech."
