Conservative commentator Michael Knowles is still scheduled to speak at USC on Thursday, despite backlash over his recent comments.
On Monday night, Knowles made controversial statements on Fox News, in which he referred to 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg as a “mentally ill Swedish girl.”
Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative group on campus, still plans to hold their event later this week with Knowles despite the controversy.
“He will still be here at 7 o’clock on Thursday,” said Maxwell Brandon, chairman of YAF. Brandon added he felt Knowles’ comments were “somewhat blown out of proportion.”
However, the decision to still allow Knowles a platform on campus was met with renewed backlash from some students.
“I don’t understand how YAF can feel comfortable inviting Knowles onto this campus after he said that about Greta Thunberg,” said Alex Kriksciun, president of Trojan Advocates for Political Progress.
Kriksciun noted Fox News has uninvited Knowles from future appearances as a result of his comments, and argued “[Knowles’] entire career has shown that he doesn’t care about other people and that he’s happy to further endanger and harm already marginalized communities.”
However, some USC students supported allowing Knowles to speak on campus.
“The First Amendment protects that. You have the freedom of speech, you have the freedom to believe in what you want to believe,” said sophomore Greg Nasser.
Junior Liorah Goldsmith also felt Knowles should be allowed to speak on campus. She believes this will demonstrate to controversial conservatives, like Knowles, that USC does not want to prohibit discussion of controversial issues, but allows students to engage with ideas with which they disagree.
YAF remains resolute in its decision to continue as scheduled, though Brandon believes those upset by Knowles’ presence will make their disapproval known at the event.
“We will have some security… we have been in constant communication with [the Department of Public Safety],” Brandon said. “We expect people to definitely show up and challenge Michael Knowles in the question and answer, which is why we have a question and answer.”
Annenberg Media reached out to Michael Knowles multiple times for comment, but did not receive a response.
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated that Liorah Goldsmith is a sophomore.