Right wing author Dinesh D’Souza said President Trump might need to consider sending in the national guard to protect free speech on college campuses — adding that a promised executive order may not be enough to address the issue.
“Let’s remember Berkeley is a state university, it’s fully accountable to the First Amendment and the First Amendment is not less valuable than say the 14th Amendment, which protects civil rights,” D’Souza said during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”
“So if I were Trump, I would consider — in extreme circumstances — sending in the national guard because sending in force to protect basic constitutional rights is actually an appropriate use of force,” he said.
D’Souza added that instances of conservatives backing down to campus pressure, like when former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pulled out of a 2014 speech at Rutgers University, ultimately only emboldened anti-free speech activists.
Though it invites a thorny slew of state’s rights issues, the president can federalize and take control of a state national guard, George Mason University law professor Tim MacArthur told NPR last year.
Past examples have included President Dwight Eisenhower in 1957 when he ordered the Arkansas national guard to integrate schools in Little Rock and George H.W. Bush, who sent the California national guard to assist with riot control after the Rodney King verdict. Presidents Obama and Bush Jr. both also employed national guard troops during their presidencies.
D’Souza, a longtime conservative critic, has risen to new prominence with his strong embrace of President Trump, his most recent documentary openly compared the billionaire to Abraham Lincoln. Trump returned the favor by giving D’Souza a full pardon for a 2014 conviction on felony campaign finance violations.