A presentation by a doctor from New York University who frequently refers to former president Donald Trump as an “authoritarian” has been postponed by the U.S. Naval Academy.
According to a Sept. 4 Substack article by the Trump-hating intellectual, the Naval Academy invited NYU Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat to provide a keynote address at its quarterly Bancroft Lecture on October 10. The school’s history department previously established the lecture series to “honor the academy’s founder, George Bancroft” and provide Midshipmen, school faculty, and others an opportunity to hear from “eminent historians … about their research and the relevance of]their ] craft to today’s world”.
As noted by The Daily Signal, Ben-Ghiat indicated plans to give” a political screed” attacking Trump “in the presence of a fiercely contested presidential plan”. In her blog announcing her future talk, the left-wing Ny professor signaled an intention to tie Trump to totalitarianism.
” I will be speaking about what happens to army under authoritarian rule, touching on Nazi Italy, Pinochet’s Chile and the Russian army during the battle on Ukraine”, she wrote. ” That brings us to today’s publish, on why Donald Trump insults the defense”.
Ben-Ghiat more criticized Trump for his August attend to Arlington National Cemetery at the request of Gold Star families whose loved ones were killed during President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. She also outlandishly claimed that “insulting and mocking the military are among]Trump’s ] most consistent habits”, regurgitated Democrats ‘ debunked” suckers” and “losers” hoax, and claimed Trump has an “authoritarian character” and “desire to destroy democratic values and ideals”.
A rep for the Naval Academy’s media relations department revealed that the Bancroft Memorial Lecture set “is now postponed” and that the academy looks forward to continuing its tradition of organizing scientific discussions centered on open, fair, and important topics for our students in a statement released to The Federalist.
The Naval Academy encourages navigator to think critically and consider problems from a variety of angles and settings. Our focus is on how to think, no what to think”, the national said.
The rep made it clear that the provost and superintendent choose the event speakers after a committee of faculty members from the history department. According to the official, the person must possess a “distinguished figure of published traditional fellowship characterized by the highest standard of research.”
The standard continued,” The specific emotions and political views of host speakers do not reveal those of the Naval Academy employees or midshipmen.”
The choice to prolong the lesson was “made by leadership”, and a rescheduled day has yet to be determined, according to the agent.
According to The Daily Caller, Ben-Ghiat claimed that her statement at the Bancroft Lecture may “have no mention of modern USA or former President Trump” because doing so “would not been appropriate.”
Background of Republican-Hating Rhetoric
Ben-Ghiat’s Sept. 4 concrete is almost the only case in which she has painted Trump and Republicans as existential risks to “democracy”.
The authoritarian “expert” expressed concern that the former president’s extraordinary and dangerous lawfare against Trump could be used by him to bolster his election chances and stoke government ties to his political rivals in a row from March 2023 MSNBC. In other words, she fears that Trump will use the same law-fare strategies against Liberals that they have been employing for decades.
” Like various warlords, he will focus on gaining control of public institutions to exact revenge. This is one interpretation of his , declaration , at CPAC that’ we’re going to accomplish what we started’ and his style of himself as a’ fighter,'” Ben-Ghiat wrote. That means punishing everyone who did not support his government’s efforts to destroy it and bringing down the court so he can achieve the strongman’s goal of being completely immune to prosecutors.
In August 2023, the NYU doctor claimed in a message that former Attorney General Bill Barr is a “far-right Catholic” and” never a friend to republic” and asserted that he recently gave “racist to the core” remarks to members of law enforcement. In response to the legal analysis Barr provided on Fox News regarding the indictment of Trump for his speech in opposition to the 2020 election results, Barr made that statement.
Days after the 2022 midterm elections, Ben-Giatt penned an MSNBC article arguing that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has “authoritarian sympathies and attitudes” and offers a “more ‘ respectable’-seeming version of illiberal rule than the baggage-laden outrage specialist that is Trump”. She bizarrely spooked the GOP governor by promising to” continue Trump’s relentless attempts to turn the back on social progress in America by silencing and disenfranchising tens of millions who do n’t fit into Republicans ‘ white Christian vision for the country.”
She also previously accused X owner Elon Musk of being a “fascist.”
Legal Issues on the Horizon?
Legal experts and lawmakers are questioning the Naval Academy’s decision to invite Ben-Ghiat, which violates Pentagon guidelines governing military members’ political conduct.
The Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky and Cully Stimson claimed in their Daily Signal report that the Naval Academy is “violating Defense Department directives prohibiting the military from engaging in partisan political activity” by inviting Ben-Ghiat to speak at the Bancroft Lecture.
” Department of Defense , Directive No. 1344.10 , ( Feb. 19, 2008 ) bans active members of the military, which includes the naval officers who are administrators and teachers at the academy, from engaging in’ partisan political activities,'” they wrote. ” By putting the academy’s official imprimatur on this rancorous harangue, the academy is doing exactly what the directive says it ] ] should n’t do:’ appear to imply official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement’ of what is patently a partisan, political speech”.
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Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, expressed similar concerns in an Oct. 3 letter to Naval Academy Superintendent Yvette M. Davids. The congressman noted that the school’s intended role is to “foster leadership and integrity, not to subject future officers to indoctrination” and asked Davids to rescind Ben-Ghiat’s invitation to speak at this week’s lecture.
Our service academies are funded by the government and are not political forums, according to Self. Engaging in partisan debate at such a crucial time discredits the academy’s mission and defies the principles that underlie the Naval Academy’s foundation.
A school representative asked the Naval Academy if it thought Ben-Ghiat’s invitation to speak at the Bancroft Lecture constituted a “high moral, legal, and ethical bar” in keeping with the aforementioned Pentagon guidelines, and that this included “avoiding all appearances of association of partisan political advocacy or endorsement in adherence with civil-military norms and Department of Defense Instruction 1344.10.”
Shawn Fleetwood is a University of Mary Washington graduate and a staff writer for The Federalist. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood