Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber said in his annual State of the University letter that “false ideas” are “inconsistent” with the university’s core values. In his letter, however, Eisgruber goes on to spread the infamous “very fine people” hoax about former President Donald Trump.
“I am a passionate defender of free speech,” wrote Eisgruber in his letter, before going on to explain that the university’s core value is “truth-seeking, not free speech per se,” adding that “false ideas” are “inconsistent with scholarly ideals.”
“The reckless expression of offensive or false ideas may be protected speech, but it is utterly inconsistent with scholarly ideals,” added Eisgruber. “It corrodes, rather than serves, the cause of truth-seeking.”
Ironically, however, the university president goes on in his letter to spread the “very fine people” hoax, which many on the political left have regurgitated in order to spread the false narrative that President Trump defended the white nationalists in Charlottesville in 2017.
“One of the lowest points of Donald Trump’s presidency, for example, was his disgraceful statement that there were ‘very fine people on both sides’ when white nationalists and Nazis marched on the University of Virginia’s campus,” wrote Eisgruber.
The university president, however, is wrong, as his information is derived from a selectively-edited video of Trump’s 2017 remark, cut out of context and utilized to imply that the former president referred to neo-Nazis as “very fine people.”
The unedited video of President Trump’s comments reveal that he never called neo-Nazis “very fine people,” as he had specifically stated, “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally.”
As Breitbart News’ Joel Pollak explains:
As to “very fine people,” Trump had been referring to peaceful protests both for and against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The New York Times itself confirmed that some people who were in Charlottesville were not extremists but had come simply to protest about the statute.
President Joe Biden used the “very fine people hoax” throughout his campaign, even after being told it was untrue.
Breitbart News will continue to report on the Ivy League and free speech on campus.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.
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