Overview
- Senator Rick Scott urged President Trump and Congress on Friday to revoke Yale’s federal funding after activist Laura Loomer’s viral posts about Hasan Piker’s upcoming debate.
- Yale said student groups choose speakers and restated its commitment to free expression.
- The student-run Yale Political Union, which has hosted figures from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden, plans to hold the debate on campus Tuesday under the title “Resolved: End the American Empire.”
- Scott cited Piker’s past remarks, including a 2025 line that “you would kill Rick Scott” that brought a temporary Twitch suspension and a 2019 comment that “America deserved 9/11,” both of which Piker later said he regretted.
- Scott has not explained how he would cut Yale’s funds, leaving it unclear whether his call will lead to action by Congress or the White House.