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.

“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.

Department of Defense Directive No. 1344, made into law nearly two decades ago, mandates that active military members — which includes officials and teachers at the Naval Academy — cannot “engage in partisan political activity and that members not on active duty should avoid inferences that their political activities imply or appear to imply official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement.” The Naval Academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment when asked what Ben-Chait plans to speak about next week.

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 the 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.

Ben-Ghiat did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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