Journalist Scott Pelley accused President Donald Trump of “attacking” free speech and spreading “insidious concern” among the many public throughout a commencement address at Wake Forest College.
The speech got here as concerns develop over the nation’s free speech rights amid Trump’s targeted attacks aimed toward universities over a variety of matters, together with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and overseas college students’ enrollment. Trump and Harvard College are presently embroiled in a heated legal battle over its enrollment of overseas college students.
“Our sacred rule of legislation is underneath assault,” Pelley started his message. “Journalism is underneath assault. Universities are underneath assault. Freedom of speech is underneath assault, and insidious concern is reaching by way of our faculties, our companies and into our non-public ideas.”
The veteran CBS Information reporter continued, “The concern to talk in America … energy can rewrite historical past with grotesque false narratives.”
With out name-dropping, Pelley went on to say that “they will make criminals heroes, and heroes criminals.”
“Energy can change the definition of the phrases we use to explain actuality,” he added.
Pelley then stated that the “outdated playbook” the Trump administration is working from is “nothing new.”
“Variety is now described as unlawful. Fairness is to be shunned. Inclusion is a unclean phrase,” he declared. “That is an outdated playbook, my mates. There’s nothing new on this.”
The Trump administration sparked concern by signing a series of executive orders throughout the first few weeks of his second time period, with a few of them aimed toward universities. One of many orders accused school and college accreditors of getting “abused their authority by imposing discriminatory range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI)-based requirements,” the White Home said.
Watch Pelley’s speech beneath.
