On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) stated that Judge Kyle Duncan was “a little bit of a fragile flower” in how he handled his speech at Stanford University being disrupted and should “push through” the disruption, but schools should be a place where people are allowed to come and speak.
Slotkin said, “I represent a couple of universities now, including Michigan State University. It should be a place of free speech. It should be a place where all people, conservative, liberal are allowed to come and speak. I also have to say, as someone who is heckled all the time in public speeches, including this week when we were talking about gun safety on the steps of the Michigan Capitol and we had a Second Amendment group with bullhorns while you’re trying to speak, the speaker is being a little bit of a fragile flower here. Push through man, just keep going.”
Host Bill Maher then cut in to respond, “From what I saw, it was kind of impossible.”
Slotkin responded, “Okay, but — and the students, no one should ever be threatening violence, that’s never allowed, that’s not part of your First Amendment rights. But I don’t have a problem if someone comes and speaks and I don’t have a problem if people, in a civil and decent way, protest that speech.”
Maher then asked, “And you don’t have a problem if the officer of the university gets up there and defends the hecklers and not the speaker? Because that’s what she did. She defended the hecklers, not the speaker.”
Slotkin responded, “I don’t know the circumstances here, but –.”
Maher cut in to say, “You just saw it, that’s exactly what you saw.”
Slotkin then stated, “If the university invited this person or allowed this person to come and speak, then they’re hosting them.”
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