YAF Exclusive: Gingrich Sees Deep Trouble for America if Millennials Don’t ‘Step Up to The Plate’

YAF Exclusive: Gingrich Sees Deep Trouble for America if Millennials Don’t ‘Step Up to The Plate’

By Julia Porterfield

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich addressed Young America’s Foundation’s 38th National Conservative Student Conference on Wednesday and declared to a captive student audience that millennials have the potential to be the greatest generation since the Founding Fathers. In an exclusive interview with The New Guard, Gingrich further explained his hope for the millennial generation, saying that young people “have to step up to the plate.” “[Millennials] will only be the most important generation if they do the work. But they have a chance to be the most important generation,” Gingrich told The New Guard. “I think we’re in deep trouble if they don’t become the most important generation since the Founding Fathers because the scale of work we need is that great.” One of the biggest threats to young conservatives on college campuses is the increasing attacks on students’ First Amendment right to freedom of speech at higher education institutions. When asked how he would encourage students to overcome this obstacle, Gingrich said, “I would raise money to file lawsuits.” “Every time you have a professor who opposes an ideology, I’d sue them,” Gingrich added. “I’d say, you know, what you’re doing is wrong and if you don’t quit doing it I’m going to sue you.” While most of the time the suppression of free speech comes at the hand of liberal professors, there is a growing trend for students across the country attempting to silence people whose opinions differ from their own. Gingrich said that if that were the case, he’d take things a step further and sue the university. “At that point, I’d sue the university for not protecting your rights as a citizen,” Gingrich said. “I think we have to become as creative as [liberals] are in using the law to defend ourselves, and the act of fighting attracts attention.”