Trump threatens to pull U.C. Berkeley funding after protests against Milo Yiannopoulos turn violent
President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw federal funding from the University of California at Berkeley over its decision to cancel an event at which Breitbart News writer Milo Yiannopoulos, known for his provocative and often misogynistic stances, was scheduled to speak.
“If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?” Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning.
The university opted to cancel Yiannopoulos’ speech roughly two hours before it was set to begin after a protest against his presence on the campus turned violent, CNN reported. The school blamed “150 masked agitators” with igniting the violence, which included Molotov cocktails and fireworks launched at police. Protesters also threw rocks at officers and smashed windows at the U.C. student center, where Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak.
Pulling funding is a threat that Trump has brandished regularly, both as a candidate and since being inaugurated as president. Perhaps most prominently, he has pledged to withdraw federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities, which do not turn over undocumented immigrants to the federal government for deportation.
Yiannopoulos’ speeches are often met by protests. His stories are among the most provocative on Breitbart, with headlines including “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy,” “Science proves it: Fat-shaming works” and “Gay rights have made us dumber, it’s time to get back in the closet.”
Brietbart is an alt-right news website that has expressed white nationalist sympathies.
Last month, a man was shot at a campus demonstration opposing a Yiannopoulos speaking engagement at the University of Washington.
At least some portion of Trump’s success as a candidate is owed to the alt-right movement to which he regularly played on the campaign trail. Breitbart has been a frequent publisher of flattering stories regarding the president, and the website’s former head, Steve Bannon, is the Trump administration’s chief strategist and senior counselor.