So far over this past year, the campus has given Donald Trump a lot of criticism. A lot of people heckle him for his tweets, comments during speeches, violence during Trump’s campaign and rallies, his “fake news” accusations, etc. A lot of people have even called him a fascist for some of the things he’s been trying to enforce, such as the immigration issue and protecting the border to Mexico.

When Trump was elected and inaugurated, a lot of people would go ballistic and riot and then violence would ensue. I don’t recall this happening when Obama was elected and re-elected, but I do invite someone to correct me if I’m wrong on that part. So, someone would give Trump a hard time about being emotionally disturbed while giving a graduation speech, but not those who cause a ruckus at an anti-Trump rally where injuries and arrests occur?

Back in February of this year, a right-wing podcaster by the name of Gavin McInnes was going to give a talk at New York University. When he had showed up, a number of students came up and assaulted him and hit him with pepper spray.

One month later, political scientist Charles Murray was invited to give a lecture on class divisions at Middlebury College in Vermont. He was accompanied to the building he was going to lecture at by Allison Stanger, a political scientist at Middlebury. They were being booed to the point where Murray could not be heard, and they had to be escorted out. While they were getting into the car, they were attacked by protesters with Antifa masks. Stanger got a concussion as a result.

A month after that, Heather MacDonald was invited to speak at Claremont McKenna College. Two hundred fifty protesters got together and blocked her from getting there, resorting to name-calling with some chanting the word “fascist” at her. Campus officials wound up having to cancel her talk, citing security reasons.

I can almost guarantee that people would not be rebuked in the paper, for doing stuff like this to people from the Right. In fact, notable philosopher, sociologist, and political theorist Herbert Marcuse wrote in his essay titled “Repressive Tolerance” that there should be “intolerance against movements from the Right, and toleration of movements from the Left.” Why? Because people think the Right is “intolerant.” However, nothing could be farther from the truth. In a book I read recently, it said this, “The Left dominated academia, Hollywood, and the media. These are the three most powerful megaphones of our culture and they are the primary instruments of disseminating information to people, especially the young people.” So, the very things people give Trump and his supporters flack for are also the very things the Left are just as guilty of, yet oftentimes doesn’t get noted at nearly the same level. So can everyone give Trump a break and move on to something else?

Mark Simonson

Graduate Student

Agribusiness & Applied Economics

(701) 367-3574