Ben Shapiro and Congress

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Ben Shapiro Thug Life Reaches The Halls Of Congress


DeSantis then asked if the government should fund universities that block free speech:

So just from a conservative perspective, we look at some of what’s going on on college campuses and we don’t necessarily like it, but we don’t really want government involved in this anyway, but the other thing people will point out is, we’re funding these universities, so the American taxpayer is underwriting a lot of this stuff. Is there a role for government given that we’re funding it or is it just the type of thing that we fund it and we just gotta keep our hands off? If we weren’t funding it then I would think there would not be a role for government at all, but a lot of money is going to these universities.

Shapiro referred to the Wisconsin law that was passed in the wake of the protests that occurred when he spoke at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The law, which stipulated that students who disrupted speeches would be disciplined, came under attack from some Democrats during the free speech hearing. Shapiro said:

The Wisconsin law that has been discussed repeatedly has been, I think, a little bit unfairly maligned because people are refusing to read the end of the phrase in the law, which is that this is speech that “interferes with the speech of others.” If you have administrators who are basically handing a “heckler’s veto” to people who are standing up in front of other speakers, and then attempting to block it, that’s not actually free speech, that’s trespass. So I don’t know that you need another piece of legislation, I do think you need enforcement of existing law that exists to prevent what is, in fact, criminal activity and not free speech activity, but there are going to have to be some sort of consequences for administrators who don’t abide by the current law, because what they're doing is that they are essentially saying, “We can’t shut down the speech, but if you go and you make a big fuss, then we’ll say that in order to shut down the fuss we have to shut down the speech.” And if they continue to do that, then I don’t see why my taxpayer dollars should be going to a university that bans me because the university refuses to protect my right to free speech.




Congressional Democrat Tries To Attack Shapiro Over 'White Privilege' ... Then Shapiro Fires Back

After recounting the incidents in which Dumpston was targeted by hate, Plaskett chose to attack Shapiro in a condescending way:

It’s interesting, Mr. Shapiro, you talked about white privilege. Just this week, I had a conversation with Rachel Lazar, who’s done some work, a Jewish-American woman who’s done some work in this area, as well as having extensive conversations with Dr. Greg Parks of Wake Forest University, who’s also talked about critical race theory. It’s my understanding that white privilege is not telling individuals that they cannot speak, but it is a term for societal privilege that individuals have as a benefit of their white skin, and I don’t think that, I think universities would be remiss to then say that because you are white, you are not allowed to say anything that’s critical of white people; I didn’t know that white privilege actually went into that sphere; my understanding is it’s just — and the issue is that white privilege makes people uncomfortable to talk about the societal privilege that they have.

Shapiro fired back:

To me, what I say on campuses all the time is if you want to cite instances of racism that we can all find and fight together, that’s something that I am more than willing to stand next to you and fight, because that’s obviously stuff that we should fight together. But when you just say that there is a white privilege out there in the ether and by dint of birth your skin color generates for you an advantage, what you’re really saying to people is that your view is less valuable because you have not experienced what I’ve experienced. And that is an identity argument; that’s a character argument; that’s not a rational political argument that can actually be taken on in any way. It’s more of a cudgel and a club than it is an attempt to open a discussion.
 
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