Naval Academy Invites Outspoken Anti-Trump Guest To Give Keynote Speech At High-Level Lecture

The U.S. Naval Academy has reportedly invited an outspoken anti-Trump guest to give the keynote speech at a high-level lecture this month.

The Naval Academy is hosting the annual Bancroft Lecture — established to honor the legacy of the academy’s founder, George Bancroft — on Oct. 10, featuring guest speaker and New York University history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Chait announced that she’d be speaking at the event in an op-ed last month and further claimed that former President Donald Trump was an “authoritarian” and drew comparisons between him and world dictators. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Army Hit With Lawsuit After Stonewalling Inquiries Into West Point’s Removal Of Iconic Mission Statement)

“I will be speaking about what happens to militaries under authoritarian rule, touching on Fascist Italy, Pinochet’s Chile and the Russian military during the war on Ukraine,” Ben-Ghiat wrote in a Substack post on Sept. 4. “That brings us to today’s post, on why Donald Trump insults the military.”

Ben-Ghiat criticized Trump for appearing alongside Gold Star families at the Arlington National Cemetary in August on the anniversary of the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, which ended in the killing of 13 U.S. servicemembers. Trump was invited at the behest of the Gold Star families, but still came under heavy scrutiny from left-wing media because he was photographed at the cemetery in a section where it is, in some cases, restricted.

“Insulting and mocking the military are among his most consistent habits,” Ben-Ghiat wrote. “Why does he do it? His authoritarian character, desire to destroy democratic values and ideals, and loyalty to autocrats who see the powerful U.S. military as an obstacle to their geopolitical aims.”

Ben-Ghiat further claimed that “the attitudes of Trump mirror those of authoritarians,” drawing comparisons to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The Bancroft Lecture is a strictly non-partisan event and it is an enormous honor for me to speak to the U.S. Naval Academy, an institution I admire greatly. My lecture will have no mention of contemporary USA or former President Trump; that would not be appropriate,” Ben-Ghait told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “My lecture will be three case studies of militaries under authoritarian governance: Fascist Italy in WW2, Pinochet’s Chile (thus the coup in the title) and the Russian military under Putin.”

More broadly, left-wing initiatives have seemingly become a hallmark of military institutions and the Pentagon under the Biden-Harris administration’s leadership, including through diversity, equity and inclusion policies, racial and gender quotas, abortion subsidies, and promotion of LGBTQ ideology. These initiatives come as the military continues to struggle with recruiting and retention, a problem that has grown worse under the Biden-Harris administration.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include a statement from Ben-Ghiat.

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