Trump Says Feds Will Review Tax-Exempt Status of Universities With ‘Radical Left Indoctrination’

President Donald Trump listens during a "National Dialogue on Safely Reopening America's Schools," event in the East Room of the White House, in Washington on July 7, 2020. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is instructing the Treasury Department to review the tax-exempt status of school systems and universities that have become platforms of “radical left indoctrination.”

“Too many Universities and School Systems are about Radical Left Indoctrination, not Education,” Trump wrote on twitter. “Therefore, I am telling the Treasury Department to re-examine their Tax-Exempt Status and/or Funding, which will be taken away if this Propaganda or Act Against Public Policy continues. Our children must be Educated, not Indoctrinated!”

According to the Association of American Universities (pdf), the vast majority of public and private universities and colleges are designated tax-exempt by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) because of their educational purposes, or the fact that they are state governmental entities. The federal law requires these institutions to report to the IRS each year on their revenues, expenditures, endowments, and more information that is made available to the public.

The lack of ideological diversity in American higher education has long been a concern for the conservatives. According to a recent report by the Young America’s Foundation (YAF), only one of the United States’ top 100 universities invited a Republican guest speaker to address the class of 2020 at their graduation ceremonies, reflecting an overwhelming lack of conservative voices on campus.

The YAF report highlighted the discrimination against Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior White House adviser. She was initially was invited to give a virtual commencement speech at Wichita State University Tech in Kansas, but the school canceled its plans to feature her as a speaker, after students and professors protested the event.

“Just as universities roll out the red carpet for leftist guest lecturers, so they invite and welcome leftist figures from media, pop culture, and government to deliver a final lesson to graduates at commencement—even when commencement is virtual,” said YAF spokesman Spencer Brown. “The left maintains their educational echo chamber at the expense of their students’ intellectual strength and the once-noble pursuit of higher learning.”