Conservative journalist and speaker Ben Shapiro outlined for Congress on Tuesday the steps liberal opponents of free speech take to silence those with whom they disagree: “The first step is they say the validity or invalidity of an argument can be judged solely by the ethnic, sexual, racial or cultural identity of the person making the argument,” he said. “The second step is that they claim that anyone who say otherwise are engaging in what they call verbal violence. And the final step is that they conclude that physical violence is sometimes justified in order to stop such verbal violence.”
Shapiro, who edits The Daily Wire, has seen that process in action as protesters and activists have tried to cancel or disrupt multiple appearances by him to speak on college campuses. He and Adam Carolla, the comedian and talk-show host who’s making a documentary about free speech, headlined a panel of witnesses before a joint hearing of the House subcommittees on intergovernmental affairs and health care, benefits and administrative rules.
Shapiro, who has been banned from DePaul and had a speaking appearance at Cal State University-Los Angeles disrupted by students pulling a fire alarm (after it was canceled and then rescheduled), has most recently been subject to a back-and-forth with the administration at Berkeley over a planned appearance sponsored by Young Americans for Freedom and the Berkeley College Republicans.
“Whatever we think about America and where we stand, we must agree on this fundamental principle,” said Shapiro. “All of our views should be judged on their merits, not on the color or sex or sexual orientation of the speaker, and those views should never be banned on the grounds that they offend someone.”
Carolla recalled the decade he spent touring college campuses with the national-syndicated radio show Loveline, and he discussed the stark contrast of those previous experiences with today’s age of safe spaces. Throughout the session, Carolla continually placed an emphasis on the need for “adults to start being adults,” and his belief that the problems found on college campuses precipitate from a core breakdown of family values in American home.
“Studies have shown that if you take people and place them in a zero gravity environment, like astronauts, they lose muscle mass, they lose bone density,” explained Carolla in his opening remarks. “We are taking these kids in the name of protection, we’re putting them in a zero gravity environment, and they are losing muscle mass, bone density. They need to live in a world that has gravity.”
While recognizing the importance of disciplining those students who prevent free speech on their campuses through the use of violence and protest, committee members and witnesses alike agreed that further legislation was generally a bad idea. Ranking member of the committee Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi vocally denounced the proposed Campus Free Speech Act (referenced as the Wisconsin Bill during the hearing) early on, a bill before the Wisconsin legislature that would attempt to require equal tolerance of all ideologies on campuses by mandating the discipline of violent protesters and making sure institutions refrain from taking a stance on political issues. The billhas been subject to fierce criticism as officials on both sides of the aisle have found fault with the proposal’s vague language, saying it could be more of a detriment than defense of First Amendment rights.
“We do not need to choose between a robust freedom of speech and the countervailing concerns of equality and respecting law and order,” said witness Nadine Strossen of New York Law School.
