Liberals at the nation's colleges and universities "used to defend free speech", but now "they seem to be fascists" when it comes to allowing people with opposing points of view to speak at their institutions, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. said Saturday, in an interview airing after President Donald Trump's commencement speech.
Trump followed in that vein, making several remarks throughout his speech that encouraged graduates to "relish the opportunity to be an outsider".
"As long as I'm your president, no one is going to stop you from practicing your faith or preaching what's in your faith", Trump said. Despite speculation during the campaign that Trump's evangelical support didn't reflect faithful churchgoers, Pew confirmed that this was indeed a key voting bloc for Trump: Three-quarters said they had meant to vote for him.
"In America we don't worship government, we worship God", he said to raucous applause at the graduation at the nation's largest Christian university Saturday (March 13), in Lynchburg, Virginia.
"But you aren't going to let other people tell you what you believe, especially when you know that you're right", Trump said.
"Honestly, we have deep ideological differences with Donald Trump and with Liberty University to be honest", said Nick Castanes, the chairman of Seven Hills. Jerry L. Falwell, Jr., president of Liberty University, greeted him on the tarmac and joined him in the motorcade. "In America, we don't worship government".
A recent Pew Research Center survey marking Trump's first 100 days in office, a milestone reached on April 29, found three-quarters of white evangelicals approved of his performance as president while just 39 percent of the general public held the same view.
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"I've seen firsthand how the system is broken", Trump said, and how a "small group of failed voices" attempts to dictate "how to live and how to think".
"You are about the begin the greatest adventure of your life", the president told graduates.
When Mr. Trump first spoke at Liberty University during the campaign, he quoted scripture and vowed to "protect Christianity".
Trump, who was presented with an honorary degree but didn't wear academic regalia during his address, urged the Liberty graduates to remain persistent, never give up and, if necessary, to embrace being an outsider.
I want to thank you, because boy did you come out and vote.
It has been a tradition for presidents in their first years in office to deliver commencement addresses at the University of Notre Dame, but thousands of students, faculty and alumni petitioned the university not to invite President Trump. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, told University of Massachusetts-Amherst graduates they should fight for "the principle that no one, no one in this country is above the law and we need a Justice Department, not an obstruction of justice department". "Embrace that label. Being an outsider is fine". Did we challenge accepted wisdom and take on established systems? "And I think most people here are generally excited about that". "Do we agree? And we got it".
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