Larry speaks with iHeartMedia's WOR~710-AM morning host Michael Riedel

Michael Riedel is an American theatre critic, conservative broadcaster, and columnist. He is the co-host of "Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning" 6am - 10 am on 710 WOR in New York City, weekdays 6-10am. Riedel has been a controversial and influential Broadway columnist of the New York Post for over 20 years.

Episode Transcript

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This is a podcast from WOR.Here's Larry Minte with more of the wr
Saturday morning show, Welcome Back.Michael Riedel is the conservative co host of
Len Berman and Michael Riedel in theMorning, heard each morning right here on
WOR from six to ten. Thisweek on the show, his alma mater,
Columbia University, was one of thetop stories because of the pro Palestinian

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protest and arrest, and Michael hadsome fascinating comments this week about the limits
of free speech. He joins us, Now, hey, Michael, thanks
for doing this. Let's start,if we can, with the latest news
from Columbia University, where over onehundred pro Palestinian protesters were removed from the
south lawn and the streets around thebuilding and arrested yesterday morning. This is

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the most aggressive action to date byan Ivy League school against protesters on their
campus or any school a matter offact. Was it the right move percent?
And I speak as a proud alumnusof Columbia University. I do think
it is. Fundamentally, I believethe kids have a right to protest.

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I believe that free speech should beallowed all over the campus. That's the
whole point of going to college tohave your ideas and your views and your
opinions tested. But it has tobe done civilly. You cannot have students
taking over a college campus, puttingup their pup tents, disrupting other kids
from going to class, refusing togo to class themselves, and just squatting

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there and sitting there. And Imust applaud the president of Columbia, who
I'm a little ambivalent about. Ithink it's about time that college campus is
to say, look, the kidsare not running this place, all right,
We the adults, are in charge. Have your protests, say whatever
you want to in class, saywhatever you want to on the college campus.

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With a demonstration that's been approved bythe campus the college, that's fine.
But you don't just decide we're goingto put a pop tense and take
over the college campus. I mean, if we're up to me, I'd
bring in a bulldozer in and bulldozethem all right out of there. But
I think the kids should be suspended. Some of them who were violent or
really nasty, harassing other kids,they should be expelled from the school.

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It's about time that the people whorun the universities assert their authority over the
kids. Well said, I agree, and I know that as you just
said, you're proud of the Columbianpresident Minushevik for calling the police. I
imagine you are less proud of thefact that she wouldn't say the slogan from
the River to the Sea was antisemitic or hate speech in front of a

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House committee. You know, look, it is hate speech, and it
is definitely anti semitic, and sheprobably should have said it's anti semitic.
But I gotta tell you, Larry, I have been upset with these speech
codes that the universities have put inplace for a long time now. They
put them in place because what theythought was, Okay, well, we

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don't want any racism on the campus, we don't want any homophobia on the
campus. We don't want anybody questioningtransgender rights. But what has turned on
them is that they never thought aboutanti semitism. I guarantee you they did
not factor in anti semitism. Theywere thinking, as I say, about

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gay people, minorities. They werecertainly thinking about Muslims in the wake of
the attacks nine to eleven. Andhow then we went after the Muslim world
and a lot of Muslims thought theUS was bad for going after Iraq,
and Toppling said, I'm husaying whatthey didn't realize with their stupid speech codes.
It's a double edged sword and it'scome back to haunt them about anti

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Semitism, because I think for along time on the college campuses, they
were generally okay with, Oh,you can be anti Catholic, you can
be anti Baptists, you can beanti Jewish, you can be anti Israel.
You can't be a racist, youcan't be a homophobe, you can't
be an islamophobe. And those speechcodes that they put in the place have
really come back to bite them inthe ass. No, it has.

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And I guess that leads to thequestion what is hate speech? Well,
hate listen, hate speech is hatespeech. It's obvious. You know.
Somebody comes out and says, Ihate Jews, I hate black people,
I hate gay people. That iscalled hate speech. Making fun of people
that is hate speech. All right, But unfortunately we live under this thing

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called the First Amendment, where youhave the right to hate, you have
the right to be offensive, youhave the right to be obnoxious. I
have the right to ignore you respondto you or make fun of you.
That's my right. Well that's notthe way things are being done right now.
What should happen if someone uses hatespeech? You're saying nothing. I
think the line is crossed when youcall for violence against people, and we

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know that, I mean, theSupreme Court has ruled on that. You
can't call, you know, firein a crowded theater. You can't say
I hate you and I want youkilled right now. Okay, that's a
violation. I can say I hateyou because I don't like the color of
your skin or your religion. Thatspeech. That's free speech. And the
best thing to do with people likethat is either ignore them or ridicule them.

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Aren't you worried that when you startlabeling some language as hate speech and
put it into a separate category andthen censor it like the government did with
social media when they claim certain thingswere hate speech and had to be taken
down, that we're getting close tocensorship absolutely. And who is it who
defines what hate speech is? Arewe going to appoint some committee of elite

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people who decide, well, youknow, river to the Sea. We
understand that's a Palestinian slogan against oppressions. So we'll let that go. But
if you say something else that youknow, I don't really think a guy
who wants to be a girl shouldplay on a girl's team. Now,
oh, that's hate speech. We'regoing after you for that. Who makes

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that decision? Right? Let's readthe Columbia University Code of Conduct and this
is also a letter that was sentout by the president. When hate's speech
of incidents violate university laws, itwill not be tolerated and will be referred
for disciplinary action in accordance with ourpolicies. And there are several people that

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have even been expelled for using hatespeech. Now, I understand that a
private university can make their own rulesand do what they can't. They can
do what they want. Are youconcerned about that when they start using speech
to punish people? I am,I am. I believe in a vigorous
debate about everything, every issue,but it's got to be civil. And

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where I think Colombia and the otheruniversities, they can say, you can
hold obnoxious opinions, you can holdracist opinions, you can hold anti Semitic
opinions all right, but what youcan't do is harass intimidate and threaten your

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fellow students very well said. Thankyou so much Michael Ridle for joining me.
I'll see you on Monday. Youcan listen to Len Berman and Michael
Riedo in the morning six to tenon Monday. This has been a podcast from wor