In her recent op-ed, Amanda Campos called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a “bigot” and claimed that hosting him at Stanford is “fascist propaganda.” Inviting leaders like DeSantis to speak isn’t propaganda. But refusing to hear from people you dislike is intellectual cowardice. If you want to persuade others, the answer is to hold — and win — the debate, not to prevent it from happening.

DeSantis is the twice-elected leader of one of America’s largest and most diverse states. Over 4.6 million Floridians voted for him. You don’t have to agree with his policies to recognize that a civic-minded university must engage with major political figures who shape the nation’s future, no matter where they lie on the political spectrum.

Campos’ call for Stanford to block speakers she deems objectionable under the guise of “ethics” is not progressive — it’s Orwellian. It cloaks censorship in the language of compassion, using moral rhetoric to justify intellectual control. The same rules she demands today could easily be used tomorrow to silence her — or anyone who questions a new orthodoxy. What begins as an effort to protect people from “harmful ideas” almost always ends as an effort to prevent other ideas from being challenged.

Campos also labeled DeSantis a “racist,” “sexist,” “queerphobic” and “power-hungry,” and she compared his support for immigration enforcement to a “Gestapo-style ICE.” These are not arguments. They’re moral smears meant to shut down debate. The truth is far less dramatic — and far more inconvenient for her narrative.

DeSantis narrowly won in 2018 by 0.4 points — about 32,000 votes — implemented the very policies Campos finds abhorrent, and then won re-election by 19.4 points (59.4 to 40.0), flipping majority-minority Miami-Dade County for the first time in decades and earning 1.5 million more votes than his opponent. Millions of Floridians — women, immigrants and yes, even some members of the LGBTQ community — lived under his policies and re-elected him in that landslide.

If DeSantis is racist, why did he win 58% of Hispanic voters, including 68% of Cuban Americans and a majority of Puerto Ricans?

If he is fascist, why is he working with Democrats on Congressional term limits, and why has Florida ranked first for net in-migration? And if he is sexist, why has he appointed women to senior positions in his administration and the U.S. Senate vacancy, raised teacher starting salaries (in a profession nearly 80% female) and led a state ranking top three for women-owned businesses?

Florida is now America’s fastest-growing state as people leave New York and California — states whose policies align far more closely with Campos’ preferences — to build their lives under his leadership instead. This growth stems from Florida being ranked No. 1 for its economy and No. 2 for education, not from its governor being top-ranked in “spewing hate.” 

As for Campos’ “Gestapo” comparison — it’s shameful. The Gestapo imprisoned, tortured and helped murder millions. To equate modern immigration enforcement with Nazi secret police trivializes the Holocaust and demeans real victims of tyranny. When political opponents are casually branded as Nazis, it doesn’t just distort history — it poisons civic life. Such language convinces some that their adversaries are not fellow citizens to debate, but enemies to destroy, and it risks normalizing hostility and even violence in public life.

Nor is it true that the democratically enacted laws Campos criticizes are tantamount to physical “violence.” Take education. Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill does not ban discussion of sexuality or even mention the word “gay”; it limits formal instruction on sexual topics in kindergarten through grade 3. A majority of Americans, including parents across party lines, support that principle. Rather than label anyone who disagrees a bigot, Campos should ask why Democrats who share her worldview were defeated so soundly in Florida in 2022 and 2024.

Contrary to what Campos seems to believe, Stanford students aren’t afraid of thoughtful disagreement; they’re hungry for it. Eighty-five students showed up for the Stanford Political Union’s recent forum on political violence, where students from across the spectrum — myself included — argued passionately yet respectfully. Because I represented a conservative position, many stayed afterward to keep talking. Several told me I was the first conservative they’d ever met at Stanford and asked to meet again. DeSantis’s event, meanwhile, sold out. That turnout shows what students really want: open, honest dialogue across lines of difference.

In her article, Campos wrote that she moved to the U.S. from Brazil in 2017. She chose to stay here for college, despite what she has called a “rising fascist regime.” Sharing that criticism is her right — and one she would not enjoy in many other countries. Across much of the world, governments still arrest citizens for dissent. America — despite its flaws — remains a place where even the harshest critics of its leaders can speak freely. Today, more than 1.3 million active-duty service members stand ready to defend those rights for every American — including those they disagree with. The question is: what is Campos willing to give to defend the rights of those she disagrees with?

Make no mistake: Stanford thrives because of the country that built and supports it — not in spite of it. America’s freedom, generosity, and public investment made possible the very platform we now use to debate it. Each of us — Campos included — should ask less what we have to gain from America, and more how we will serve and strengthen the nation that has given us so much.

To her credit, Campos took the time to write. She’s passionate and willing to speak out — qualities I respect. And she put her name on her views. That takes courage. So I’d like to extend an invitation to her— and to students across Stanford — to join a discussion on which speakers should be welcome on campus and why. It would make an excellent topic for the Stanford Political Union. Let’s have a real exchange of ideas — civilly, respectfully and face-to-face. That’s what Stanford should be about.

Campos argues that hosting DeSantis betrays Stanford’s motto: “The wind of freedom blows.” On the contrary, thanks to Hoover’s willingness to host leaders like DeSantis, the presence of courageous scholars such as Niall Ferguson, Victor Davis Hanson and Scott Atlas, and to University president Jon Levin ’94 and Provost Jenny Martinez’s renewed commitment to free speech, those winds of freedom are beginning to blow again.

I’d encourage Campos to open her window.

Joe Nail is a U.S. Army officer, Knight-Hennessy Scholar in the MBA and Master’s of International Policy programs and Founder of the Stanford America Club.