The MAGA faithful lashed out at Scott Pelley after the veteran CBS reporter delivered a thinly veiled attack on President Donald Trump during a commencement speech.
Speaking to the graduating class of North Carolina’s Wake Forest University, the 60 Minutes correspondent warned that “freedom of speech is under attack” and that “insidious fear” is creeping into schools.
While Pelley didn’t mention Trump by name, his comments appeared to reference troubling shifts since Trump returned to the White House in January, as well as the president’s escalating feud with Harvard University.
CBS News is also locked in its own battle with Trump, following a lawsuit from the president accusing the network of editing an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris to portray his 2024 rival in a more favorable light weeks before the election.
“To move forward, we debate, not demonize; we discuss, not destroy. But in this moment, our sacred rule of law is under attack,” Pelley said in the May 19 address, which is now going viral. “Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack. And insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses, our homes, and into our private thoughts. The fear to speak, in America.”
Scott Pelley did not mention Donald Trump by name during his speech at Wake Forest University. / Frazer Harrison / Frazer Harrison/WireImage
Clips of the speech have rocketed on social media, with one post criticizing Pelley racking up over 2.3 million views on X.
“This self-important, sermonizing propagandist is what passes for a legacy media ‘journalist,’” the Western Lensman X account posted while sharing the footage.
Other Trump supporters and Republican figures also criticized Pelley over the remarks.
Curtis Houck, managing editor of the right-wing site NewsBusters, accused Pelley of being “pompous,” sharing a separate clip in which the CBS anchor told graduates they are “the vanguard against ignorance.”
Pro-Trump podcaster Scott Adams added: “Liberals who once controlled speech and the power to censor are now upset that a majority of Americans reject their lies and deception. 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley raged at Trump in an angry, unhinged commencement address at Wake Forest: as he speaks openly and freely in America.”
“It is very sad that CBS/60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley chose one of the happiest days for graduates and their families to display his undeniable case of TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome],” one MAGA account with more than 220,000 X followers posted. “Wake Forest University should be ashamed that it allowed this to take place.”
CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.
Last month, Pelley delivered a strong on-air rebuke of Paramount, the parent company of CBS, claiming it was attempting to appease the Trump administration in order to win approval a merger deal with entertainment company Skydance Media. Pelley cited the recent departure of executive producer Bill Owens over claims the higher-ups were overly monitoring 60 Minutes’ content.
Donald Trump, seen here during his 2020 interview with
“Stories we’ve pursued for 57 years were often controversial, lately the Israel-Gaza war and the Trump administration. Bill made sure they were accurate and fair—he was tough that way,” Pelley said during the broadcast. “But our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways.
“None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”
Wake Forest University praised Pelley’s speech in a press release, describing it as one filled with “urgency and hope.”
CBS News has called Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit “without merit” but are trying to settle with the president’s lawyers.
The network released a full transcript of its interview with Harris in February, following pressure from Trump and his supporters, to prove the footage was not “doctored or deceitful.”
