NDP Comments after Kerrey Withdraws from Creighton Commencement Address Following Nebraska GOP Pressure on the School

NDP Chair Jane Kleeb and Executive Director Jim Rogers issued the following comments Monday after former Gov. and U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey withdrew from giving a commencement address at Creighton University on May 18 following pressure from the NGOP because he is pro-choice.

“Sen. Kerrey lives his life defending our country and freedom of speech. The Nebraska GOP is taking a page out of President Trump’s playbook,” Kleeb said. “They are applauding Trump’s Executive Order on freedom of speech on college campuses, while at the same time bullying a  private university to cancel a speech because they do not agree with Sen. Kerrey’s words.

Sen. Kerrey put his life on the line to defend our American values,” Kleeb said. “We realize the Nebraska GOP’s new executive director just moved here from Las Vegas, but going after a veteran and Medal of Honor recipient is not a smart way to start out his tenure.”

Said Rogers: “The Republican Party put their own political battles in front of young people graduating from Creighton University. It is truly unsettling that Republican leadership is interfering with a day that should be celebrated by families and students,.

“If the goal of the Nebraska Republican party leadership was to copy the daily chaos emanating from the White House, I award them an A+ for success,” Rogers said. “They truly owe the students, their families, and the University a sincere apology for wrecking a monumental day. They also owe Sen. Kerrey responses to the questions he posed to them.”

Read Kerrey’s letter to the GOP here.

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