There’s only one play in the “Cancel Culture” playbook. Here’s how it goes:

Claim to be offended or outraged.

Amplify your message on social media.

Demand the offender be silenced, fired, and/or publicly shamed.

Threaten boycotts or protests unless swift action is taken.

Repeat Steps 1-4 until the offending voice has, in essence, been "canceled."

This is how petulant “snowflakes” manipulate otherwise rational adults. As if they have a right not to be exposed to anything they might find objectionable! It borders on fascism, and it has no place in our society.

Across the nation, Republicans and conservatives are squarely in the sights of the Cancel Culture movement. I was at Winthrop University on Tuesday in support of the recently retired Dean of Library Science, Dr. Mark Herring, who is a highly respected scholar and faculty advisor for the Winthrop College Republicans. Before his retirement, a few people took offense to a column Dr. Herring published in an academic journal.

There was nothing unlawful about what Dr. Herring wrote. He violated none of the legal limitations we have in this country on our free speech (e.g. incitement, defamation, fraud, obscenity, or threats). But NONE of that mattered.

A little feigned outrage over the phrases Dr. Herring used to identify the coronavirus is all it took for the liberal Cancel Culture to open its playbook once again. And within days, Winthrop’s Provost had openly admonished Dr. Herring in a public apology on behalf of the University, and ordered his column deleted from Winthrop’s digital archives. ALL BECAUSE OF HIS CHOICE OF WORDS.

I know many people on Winthrop’s Board quite well, and trust they will ultimately make sure the University does right by Dr. Herring. But this is local evidence of a growing national Cancel Culture movement that MUST be defeated everywhere it rears its ugly head. In this country, we don’t eliminate people or voices we disapprove of; we either engage with our own thoughts and ideas… or simply ignore it.

And for those who think I wouldn’t be defending Dr. Herring if he were a Democrat, I’ll say this: show me any public institution in our congressional district where liberals are being “canceled” or censored like Dr. Herring, and I’ll be waiting for the doors to open at their next board meeting.

You can read more about Dr. Herring’s story here: