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JONATHAN TURLEY: Defending free speech means defending even this guy

He was replaced by a Georgetown law professor who has opposed investigations into antisemitism on campuses

By Jonathan Turley Fox News

Published May 9, 2026 6:28am EDT

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I am having a tough week. I was recently compelled to write a column expressing skepticism about the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey for shell art posted on social media, despite being one of his longest and most vocal critics. 

Now, I find myself having to write a column in defense of former Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro, who was just dumped as the commencement speaker for Georgetown Law School. I have criticized Schapiro for years as a major force in destroying the intellectual diversity in higher education. The problem with believing in free speech is that you have to believe in free speech even for those whose speech you abhor. The irony in both cases is crushing. Comey, who targeted President Donald Trump in a baseless Russian collusion investigation manufactured by the Clinton campaign, is now complaining about lawfare against him.

Morton Schapiro, president of Northwestern University, speaks during an interview in New York on April 14, 2010. Schapiro is an economist who has written five books about the financing and affordability of higher education. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Schapiro is even less compelling as a victim in a cancel campaign. While Northwestern president, Schapiro pandered to the left and showed little support for free speech on campus. Schapiro denounced what he called "absolute" free speech positions and endorsed speech sanctions, including treating speech as a form of assault.

Under Schapiro, a wide array of speech was deemed "microaggressive" or intolerable in the interests of harmony and inclusion. He did little to quell the viewpoint intolerance at Northwestern and the virtual purging of faculty ranks of conservative or Republican faculty.

Now the mob has come for........

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