HBCU's MAGA Commencement Speaker Canceled, Outraged Republicans Call For Defunding

Donald Trump Holds Primary Night Event In Columbia, SC — Source: Win McNamee / Getty

College graduations are in full swing, and soon-to-be graduates are learning who their commencement speakers are.

Only at South Carolina State University, which was poised to have South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette grace the stage, did the announcement come with more drama because she’s been removed from the program.

Why? Because having a MAGA-supporting politician speak at an HBCU wasn’t acceptable to the student body.

Once the students were made aware, they united, spoke to the school’s President Alexander Conyers, and the provost, who yanked the invitation within three days, citing safety concerns. Students protested, staged a silent sit-in outside the president’s office, and later marched throughout the campus plaza.

So, Evette hopped on social media to prove exactly why she wasn’t a good fit for the speaking gig and to preach about all the good President Trump has done for HBCUs.

“I must be doing something right because woke mobs are coming after me for being a champion of eliminating radical DEI scams on college campuses, so bring it on,” she begins. “Just like President Trump, I’ll never back down or bend a knee to the woke radicals. I’m ending DEI on campuses once and for all.”

According to Capitol B, senior Kimora Aiken called the initial plan “a slap in the face,” while sophomore Kameron Sutton said the cancellation was “a sigh of relief.”

But it’s only led to more of a headache because now that her invitation’s been revoked, at least nine South Carolina lawmakers have written a letter supporting defunding the school.

“It is shameful that a state institution, supported by taxpayer dollars, would capitulate and rescind an invitation to our sitting Lt. Governor – seemingly because some students do not agree with her political views,” the letter reads.

It continues, calling it “inexcusable that a commencement speech from the Lt. Governor of South Carolina had to be canceled because her safety could not be guaranteed on a state-funded campus.”

Evette’s recent mistakes include trying to explain away Trump’s racist depiction of the Obamas as monkeys, calling the uproar “another case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” and saying it was “clearly posted in error.”

She added that it “would be nice if the press spent as much time holding criminal illegals accountable as they do pearl-clutching and virtue signaling over auto-generated videos.”

See social media responses to the backlash below.