The University of Virginia’s student newspaper received plenty of criticism after its editorial board wrote that they couldn’t “condone” former Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to the Charlottesville campus.
But they didn’t stop there.
Indeed, The Cavalier Daily’s editorial board called Pence’s speech “unjustifiable” and warned that Pence’s very beliefs threatened “the well-being and safety of students.”
Fox News reports:
Several journalists, political commentators, and more reacted to the editorial board’s piece on Twitter.
A senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, Josh Gerstein, used a hashtag to say student newspapers force censorship. The piece was first noted by Atlantic staff writer Conor Friedersdorf, who said Pence has spoken at several colleges and said there was “zero evidence” of students “being endangered as a result.”
A Republican pollster, Patrick Ruffini, said it was “idiotic and illiberal.” Mary Katharine Ham, a CNN contributor and senior writer at the Federalist, also took aim at the editorial board’s claims of violence.
“It does not threaten any lives,” she wrote on Twitter. Others took issue with the editorial board’s argument against what they describe as “unjustifiable” speech.
Other popular Twitter accounts, including from some who detest the former VP, chided the students.
UVA editorial argues VP Mike Pence shouldn’t be a allowed to speak on campus. A newspaper and journalists should set a very high bar for restricting speech,
especially at public institutions.
If you’re anti-free speech, you’re not pro-journalism.https://t.co/iBEtd6oAO3— Greg Jaffe (@GregJaffe) March 23, 2022
These snowflakes at UVA (where got my law degree) have their panties in a twist over Mike Pence! Of all people… pathetic. EDITORIAL: Dangerous rhetoric is not entitled to a platform – The Cavalier Daily – University of Virginia's Student Newspaper https://t.co/oZlOBfxTWx
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) March 22, 2022
Letting @Mike_Pence speak at @UVA, says the school's newspaper, is "a choice to fail to protect the lives of those on Grounds who Pence blatantly threatens through his rhetoric and policies." What a sad, pathetic, fantastical posture. And I *hate* Pence. https://t.co/2AOyclEkjE
— Nick Gillespie (@nickgillespie) March 22, 2022
Pence is scheduled to speak on campus in April at an event hosted by Young Americans for Freedom.