The hosts of ABC’s “The View” and Fox’s “The Five” were critical of the University of California Berkeley student protest against liberal comedian Bill Maher’s upcoming graduation speech Tuesday. Both pointed out the hypocrisy of a campus like Berkeley with a place in history for fighting for free speech banning Maher because they disagree with some of his previous comments.
More than 3,700 students have signed a petition against allowing Maher to speak on campus because they don’t want to give him “a platform” to espouse views they don’t agree with. Maher has recently come under fire for his views on Islam.
The hosts of “The View” felt this was the wrong way to go about handling his speech.
“Invite him and have your say. Challenge him. Go out into the streets and cover the campus in protests,” co-host Rosie Perez said. “For you to be so absolute in your opinion to say you can’t come here. I just don’t think that is the best way to get your point across.”
Rosie O’Donnell agreed and suggested that the students should make a subtler statement against Maher by doing something like turning their backs to him during his speech.
Co-host Nicole Wallace, who attended Berkeley, said she couldn’t believe this would happen on that campus.
“They would be squashing the very rights that the campus they are on has fought for,” she said.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg pointed out that it seems like fighting for free speech is a thing of the past, lamenting that now people only want to hear from people they agree with.
She said she hopes the students change their mind and decide to follow Perez’s or O’Donnell’s suggestions.
“They would be well served by having that debate,” Wallace added.
Over on “The Five,” the hosts made similar statements to Goldberg’s, stating that it seemed like these students only want to create an “echo chamber” of their own ideas.
Eric Bolling mocked the so-called inclusiveness of the left, despite their “anti-free speech” attitude when it comes to hearing from people they disagree with.
Greg Gutfeld agreed and said maybe Maher “knows what it’s like to be a conservative” now that he’s the target of the “modern tolerance movement which happily suppresses freedom of speech.”
All of the hosts found it interesting that these students were more willing to speak out against Maher than to speak out against the actual Muslim atrocities that have taken place.
Watch the Fox clip at Mediaite and watch “The View” clip below:
