Former Fox News star Bill O’Reilly defended Ann Coulter on his “No Spin News” podcast Wednesday night, bashing “snowflake fascists on college campuses.”
O’Reilly quoted New York University Provost Ulrich Baer, who recently wrote “As a scholar of literature, history and politics, I am especially attuned to the next generation’s demands to revise existing definitions of free speech to accommodate previously delegitimized experiences. Freedom of expression is not an unchanging absolute.”
The former “O’Reilly Factor” host didn’t appreciate the term “delegitimized” when referring to Coulter and made his opinion perfectly clear.
“So you don’t have any right to say something that’s quote unquote ‘de-legitimate,’” O’Reilly said. “And this is what is being taught in the nation’s schools. This is New York University. This guy’s a Provost, it’s outrageous. Dangerous.”
O’Reilly added, “This is so much garbage, I can’t believe it…. We know that Ann Coulter’s ideas are de-legitimate. That’s what he uses, de-legitimate. He would say the same thing about me, okay? Therefore, not worthy of being heard. This is fascism, totalitarianism, Stalinism. That’s what happened in Russia. The Soviet Union.”
Coulter canceled her scheduled speech at the University of California, Berkeley, on Wednesday after losing the support of conservative groups that sponsored her appearance. Coulter told the New York Times on Wednesday: “It’s a sad day for free speech.”
Coulter initially insisted she would go toBerkeley even after the university canceled her planned speech citing threats of violence. But Coulter now says she does not see how she could go forward.
The university said Coulter would be allowed to speak at a later date, when the campus is less crowded.
The decision to drop her legal efforts to force Berkley to let her speak came after the conservative group that was backing Coulter, Young America’s Foundation, announced late Tuesday that it could no longer take part, citing safety concerns for its staff and students.
Coulter said the lack of support from the group left her with little choice but to back out.
“Everyone who should believe in free speech fought against it or ran away,” she said.
The group that invited Coulter to speak, the Berkeley College Republicans, also dropped its support saying the atmosphere had become too hostile. Berkeley administrators offered a day next week when students are no longer in class but Coulter declined.