Ben Shapiro speaks at Boston University despite protests over speech title
Commentator Ben Shapiro hits back at students who felt 'triggered' by his speech titled 'America Was Not Built on Slavery; It Was Built on Freedom.'
Boston University student and Campus Reform correspondent Eddie Song said that -- even through protests -- conservative commentator Ben Shapiro was able to get his message across to 1,500 students in a speech on Wednesday.
Invited by the Young America's Foundation chapter on campus, the 35-year-old host of "The Ben Shapiro Show" gave a speech titled "America was not built on slavery, it was built on freedom."
The idea that America was built on slavery has circulated in recent months since the release of The New York Times’ “1619 Project," built around the 400-year history of the institution in America.
BEN SHAPIRO BLASTS BOSTON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS 'TRIGGERED' BY CAMPUS SPEECH
Black BU, Boston University’s minority student group, had previously penned a letter to Shapiro taking issue with the speech.
"Abandoned, triggered, frustrated, disheartened, devalued, infuriated, overwhelmed, ignored, embarrassed of BU," the group wrote in part. "It's important to reject and refute language that emboldens the ideologies of white supremacy."
Shapiro, who has repeatedly spoken out against and been a target of white supremacists, responded during his speech on Wednesday expressing exasperation that he was there "no thanks to the leftists who sought to have this lecture canceled out of apparent fear of [his] wretched evil."
Vocal protesters at the event were quickly escorted out and chanted down by other attendees yelling, "USA! USA!"
Appearing on "Fox & Friends" with host Brian Kilmeade on Thursday, Song said that Shapiro made some "really good points on freedom and slavery in the very beginning."
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FOX NEWS APP
He said that the group of protesters showed the "intolerance" of students on campus.
"They weren't there to learn. They were only there to disrupt," he told Kilmeade.
Song concluded that, while he believes "that Boston University [did] some really good things in terms of free speech...the social backlash is just absolutely insane."
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox