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President-elect Donald Trump said in a video that went viral this week that he plans to reform higher education by firing college accreditation groups and tapping new ones that will hold institutions to different standards.
The two-and-a-half minute video has gone viral on X, viewed 82 million times alone thanks to a repost by Elon Musk’s account. It is actually a two-year-old campaign video from July 2023 that gained new steamed after it was posted on X this week without context on its original source and publication date.
It was posted on Trump’s website in 2023 here.
Trump stated in part:
Tuition at colleges and universities has been exploding … while academics have been obsessed with indoctrinating America’s youth. The time has come to reclaim our once great educational institutions from the radical left and we will do that.
Our secret weapon will be the college accreditation system. … The accreditors are supposed to ensure the schools are not ripping off students and taxpayers, but they have failed — totally.
Trump’s plan to dismantle the U.S. indoctrination system (college) by seizing funds from schools that refuse to comply with his accreditation system.
1. “Our secret weapon will be the college accreditation system.”
2. “Fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our… pic.twitter.com/kL3PthrRZU
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 11, 2024
When I return to the White House I will fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominated by Marxist maniacs and lunatics. We will then accept applications for new accreditors who will impose real standards on colleges once again and once and for all.
These standards will include defending the American tradition and Western civilization, protecting free speech, and eliminating wasteful administrative positions that drive up costs incredibly.
Trump also pledged to remove “all Marxist diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucrats,” as well as offer options for accelerated and low-cost degrees, provide meaningful job placement and career services, and implement college entrance and exit exams “to prove that students are actually learning and getting their money’s worth.”
Editor’s note: The post was corrected to clarify that the video is actually a two-year-old campaign video that went viral this week.
MORE: Influential conservative think tank calls on Congress to reform college accreditation
IMAGE: Gage Skidmore / Flickr
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