New Anchor Receives Criticism After Commencement Speech
Scott Pelley’s recent commencement address at Wake Forest University has ignited a media firestorm, not for its inspiration or wisdom, but for its apocalyptic tone and unmistakable political undertones.
What was intended to be a message to uplift the class of 2025 quickly devolved—at least in the eyes of many critics—into a hyper-partisan warning about the state of the nation, veiled thinly beneath journalistic righteousness.
Pelley’s address, delivered with a preacher’s cadence and a journalist’s solemnity, warned of “insidious fear” creeping through American society. He declared that the rule of law, journalism, universities, and even freedom of speech were all under siege. “Your country needs you,” he told the students, urging them to rise against what he framed as a dark cloud of intimidation and suppression.
But the implicit—and to many, unmistakable—target of his warnings was former President Donald Trump and the broader conservative movement. While Trump’s name was never directly mentioned, the narrative Pelley sketched was cut from the same cloth that legacy media figures have used for years to portray the right as an existential threat to democratic norms.
Reactions to the speech online were swift and polarizing. Some praised Pelley’s remarks as courageous truth-telling in turbulent times. But for many others, especially conservatives and free speech advocates, the speech came off as grandstanding—an angry, self-righteous monologue delivered at what was supposed to be a celebration.
“Scott Pelley raged at Trump in angry, unhinged commencement address,” one critic wrote, highlighting the irony that someone warning about the silencing of speech was doing so with a nationally televised platform. Another observer summed up the disconnect: “He speaks openly and freely in America... while claiming speech is under attack.”
Critics also pointed out the hypocrisy, given that CBS—the network behind 60 Minutes—is currently embroiled in a $20 billion lawsuit filed by Donald Trump. The suit alleges that the network deliberately edited a sit-down with Kamala Harris to sanitize her image during the 2024 election season. Pelley, a senior figure at 60 Minutes, did not address the controversy in his remarks, a fact that many online were quick to call out.
While Pelley claimed that “ignorance works for power” and that “power can change the definition of the words we used to describe reality,” his critics argue that this is exactly what establishment media has done for years. The omission of key context, selective editing, and narrative-spinning are not just charges leveled at the media—they’re backed by growing public skepticism and a long list of journalistic missteps.
Even Juanita Broaddrick—whose own history with media and political suppression goes back decades—weighed in, calling Pelley a “pompous POS,” a sentiment that, while crude, reflected the frustration many feel toward what they perceive as elite media hypocrisy.