While speaking at the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Saturday, President Donald Trump promised to sign an executive order requiring colleges to “support free speech” or lose federal funding.
“Today I’m proud to announce that I will be very soon signing an executive order requiring colleges and universities to support free speech if they want federal research dollars,” Trump said in his two-hour long speech. “If they want our dollars, and we give it to them by the billions, they’ve got to allow people like Hayden and many other great young people and old people to speak.”
The president didn’t elaborate on any details about the executive order, but it’s speculated to be a response to the alleged attack last month against conservative activist Hayden William at the University of California, Berkeley.
“I will be signing an executive order requiring colleges and universities to support free speech if they want federal research dollars” @realDonaldTrump#CPAC2019#WhatMakesAmericaGreatpic.twitter.com/hyeNZ3jI6F
— CPAC 2019 (@CPAC) March 2, 2019
The president claimed William’s “took a hard punch in the face for all of us” at the time.
In February, a video surfaced of Williams being punched in the face after a verbal confrontation with two other men on the UC Berkeley campus. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, Williams was on campus to recruit students to Turning Point USA, which is a right-wing advocacy group. CNN reports that Williams and the two men weren’t students at the university.
“We reject oppressive speech codes, censorship, political correctness, and every other attempt by the hard left to stop people from challenging ridiculous and dangerous ideas,” Trump said, per The Hill. “Instead we believe in free speech, including online and including on campus.”
As of right now, Trump unveiled no details on what the executive order will include.