Donald Trump’s biggest fans are fuming after CBS News anchor Scott Pelley delivered a bold graduation speech that called out attacks on free speech—and appeared to take aim at the president himself.
Pelley, a longtime 60 Minutes anchor, gave the commencement address at Wake Forest University in North Carolina last week. What started as a talk about American values quickly turned into a viral moment when a clip surfaced on social media. MAGA loyalists immediately went on the attack.
In the speech, Pelley didn’t hold back.
“Our sacred rule of law is under attack. Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack, freedom of speech is under attacked,” he told the class of 2025.
“And insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses, our homes, and into our private thoughts. The fear to speak– in America!”
That warning struck a nerve—especially with Trump supporters, who blasted Pelley online. A popular pro-Trump account called the speech “angry” and “unhinged,” writing, “This self-important, sermonizing propagandist is what passes for a legacy media ‘journalist.’”
But Pelley was far from finished. In one of the most talked-about moments, he pushed back against the current climate of political fear and censorship:
“To move forward, we debate, not demonize. We discuss, not destroy. If our government is, in Lincoln’s phrase, of the people, by the people for the people, then why are we afraid to speak?”
The backlash came fast, but Pelley’s message wasn’t just a personal rant. It came as CBS, his network, faces a major lawsuit from Trump himself.
Trump has been waging legal and verbal war on the media, targeting CBS, ABC, The Associated Press, and others. He’s even threatened to defund outlets like NPR and PBS.
Critics say these moves are part of a broader attack on the free press. Media columnist Tom Jones wrote that it’s “hard to argue” with Pelley’s warning.
The speech—now viewed millions of times—has become a flashpoint in the ongoing fight over press freedom, political speech, and the role of journalists in Trump’s America.
Pelley closed with a message for the graduates, comparing them to past classes that faced historic moments:
“The Class of 1861 did not choose their time of calling. The Class of 1941 did not choose. The Class of 1968 did not choose. History chose. And now, history is calling you — the Class of 2025.”
Watch a clip of the speech via Wake Forest University below:
BREAKING: Veteran journalist Scott Pelley just lit Trump up, exposing his full-blown assault on free speech and vowing to fight back.
This wasn’t just reporting.
This was a line in the sand. pic.twitter.com/F91jZ0TtDL
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) May 26, 2025
