College students at the University of Florida protested with vulgar and profanity-laced signs ahead of an appearance by Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle at the school, Breitbart News reported.
Hundreds of students marched across campus and stood outside the auditorium where Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle, his girlfriend and a Trump campaign adviser, spoke on Thursday night.
Some held signs that said, “Fuch u Nazi b****” and “I’ll grab ya daddy by the p****.” One held a stuffed doll of a uterus.
The students protested the speakers’ conservative views and also “white supremacy,” which is not a view held by the pair or President Donald Trump. Other students were upset that the pair was paid $50,000 to speak, some of which came from mandatory school fees that they had no choice about paying.
Trump supporters also marched to counter the protesters, but were more restrained and less noisy in their efforts.
Student government chose speakers
The student government chose to bring Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle on to the campus to speak, and the school administration cannot by state law tell them who they can and can’t bring on campus.
The university did release a statement on October 2 supporting the student government’s right to choose Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle as speakers.
The statement said that the university “committed itself to ensuring that a wide variety of viewpoints are heard on campus as well as to protecting the First Amendment rights of all those in attendance. At the same time, the university recognizes the right of members of its community to analytically and respectfully challenge ideas so long as such challenges are conducted in a civil manner that does not stifle the open expression of the opposing ideas.”
Trump Jr. addresses protesters
The event organizers distributed the full amount of 800 tickets before the event. Trump Jr. addressed the protesters during his remarks, saying, “Your ideas can’t be all that good if you’re not willing to let other people speak theirs.”
It was not a campaign event, since rules prevent those kinds of events on campus. Trump Jr. did talk about his father’s accomplishments and say that he thought Joe Biden should be investigated over Ukraine dealings.
Olivia Yoh, a member of the Republican group on campus, said, “People are mad he’s coming here, because they feel like it’s a campaign event. But honestly, we just view it as free speech, and we’re happy to have him come here to finally have someone who shares our views on campus.”
It at least seemed to be a peaceful protest, unlike the Trump protesters in Minneapolis who attacked rallygoers and police and burned MAGA hats.