Ivanka Trump Slams ‘Cancel Culture And Viewpoint Discrimination’ After Her Commencement Speech Was Yanked
Ivanka Trump lashed out at what she is calling “cancel culture and viewpoint discrimination” after her headlining commencement speech for Wichita State University was pulled due to student backlash.
“Our nation’s campuses should be bastions of free speech. Cancel culture and viewpoint discrimination are antithetical to academia. Listening to one another is important now more than ever!” she wrote.
“Here is the message I recorded on May 18th for the Graduates of WSU-Tech. I know that all of these talented graduates will dream big and aspire to make the world a better place!” she added, along with a video link to YouTube that showed the speech she planned to give.
Trump’s speech was pulled after comments and actions taken by her father, President Donald Trump, angered students and faculty at the university. After George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died while in police custody in Minneapolis earlier this month, protests and demonstrations erupted across the country.
But critics say that the president failed to respond to the civil unrest in a unifying way after he posted messages on social media calling demonstrators “thugs” and his administration deployed extreme crowd dispersal tactics against people gathered in Lafayette Square near the White House.
Students at the university said that Ivanka Trump represented the Trump administration, given that she is one of his advisors.
A petition to stop the first daughter from appearing in the commencement activities collected hundreds of signatures and, as The Inquisitr reported, her speech was removed from the event.
WSU Tech president Dr. Sheree Utash sent out a message to students saying that their complaints had been heard and were being respected. The message came just hours after the school initially revealed that Trump would be appearing virtually at the ceremony.
“In light of the social justice issues brought forth by George Floyd’s death, I understand and take responsibility that the timing of the announcement was insensitive,” Utash’s statement read. “That was never the intent, and I want you to know I have heard you and we are responding.”
The 38-year-old had prerecorded the speech after being asked to participate in the graduation ceremony back in February, prior to the unrest following Floyd’s death.
Her speech is largely focused on the coronavirus pandemic, which was then sweeping across the nation, resulting in strict shutdowns and self-isolation measures. Now, a nursing graduate will be the only speaker at the event, though Trump will appear in a later montage.
