A CBS News personality, Scott Pelley, is facing criticism after conservatives belatedly got wind of the “60 Minutes” correspondent’s fiery denunciation of President Trump during his commencement speech at Wake Forest University.

In the May 19 commencement speech at Wake Forest in conservative western North Carolina, the “60 Minutes” correspondent did not specifically name Mr. Trump. However, he was clearly criticizing the president, saying, “Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack. And insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses, our homes, and into our private thoughts. The fear to speak, in America.”

“Why attack universities? Why attack journalism?” he asked. “Because ignorance works for power. First, make the truth seekers live in fear. Sue the journalists and their companies for nothing.”

Mr. Trump, as an individual not as the president, is suing “60 Minutes” over its October 2024 interview with Vice President Harris. Mr. Pelley did not conduct the interview, which was done by Bill Whitaker, but gave it his imprimatur when he introduced it on camera.

Just weeks before the commencement speech, Mr. Pelley delivered a stunning on-air rebuke of executives at CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, as he implied — but did not explicitly say — that the forced resignation of the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, was part of an effort by Paramount to ensure its crucial merger with Skydance Media is approved by the Federal Communications Commission, which is holding up the deal.

Executives at Paramount reportedly believe the way to ensure the deal goes through is to settle Mr. Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS for its editing of the Harris interview, which removed a “word salad” from the beginning of her answer to a question about Israel, thus making her sound more coherent. The pressure to settle the lawsuit — and likely issue an apology for the edits — led to tensions between the news division and Paramount, which contributed to the decision to push out Mr.  Owens as well as the CEO of CBS News, Wendy McMahon. 

While the speech was delivered on May 19, and covered by the Sun,  it took about a week until it started to go viral on social media. 

The “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams shared the clip on X and wrote, “Liberals who once controlled speech and the power to censor are now upset that a majority of Americans now reject their lies and deception. 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley raged at Trump in angry, unhinged commencement address at Wake Forest: As he speaks openly and freely in America.”

A conservative commentator, Guy Benson, wrote, “60 Minutes recently ran a lengthy report gushing over Germany’s anti-free speech policies, in which prosecutors laughed about confiscating phones and levying fines over bad thoughts. The lengthy report featured ZERO dissenting voices. Not even one quote against censorship.”

Another X user wrote, “Imagine having your commencement ruined by an unhinged, has been Scott Pelley.”

Reaction from Wake Forest itself has been muted. The highly regarded Baptist college in conservative western North Carolina has in recent years enrolled a large number of wealthy students from the Northeast, but it retains its Southern character. For much of its history, Wake Forest was heavily funded by the Reynolds tobacco family.

CBS News did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. Wake Forest also did not respond immediately to a request for comment. A post on the university’s website said Mr. Pelley’s speech was “filled with urgency and hope.”

Mr. Trump is in talks with Paramount to settle his lawsuit against CBS — and his team is believed to be pushing for an on-air apology.

Journalist Oliver Darcy reported in his well-read “Status” newsletter that Ms. McMahon and Mr. Owens said an apology is a “red line” they would not cross. 

However, as the Skydance deal appeared to be in limbo, and as “60 Minutes” faced increased scrutiny after running negative stories about Israel and the Trump administration, the nonexecutive chairwoman of Paramount, Shari Redstone, reportedly sought to put some kind of guardrails on the notoriously independent newsmagazine program. Puck’s Dylan Byers reported that she inquired whether “60 Minutes” could hold off on running stories about the Trump administration until the Skydance deal was approved. 

In his goodbye note, Mr. Owens said, “It has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for ‘60 Minutes.’”

After his departure announcement, Mr. Pelley informed “60 Minutes” viewers of the news and appeared to attribute it to the efforts to ensure the Paramount deal is approved. 

“Stories we’ve pursued for 57 years were often controversial, lately the Israel-Gaza war and the Trump administration. Bill made sure they were accurate and fair—he was tough that way,” he said. “But our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”

With Ms. McMahon and Mr. Owens out of the picture, some observers predict that Paramount and Mr. Trump could come to an agreement to resolve his lawsuit. A veteran media reporter, Matthew Belloni, predicted on his podcast “The Town” that after Ms. McMahon’s ouster, a deal could be coming in the “next week or two.”

Some predictions of the settlement terms have reached as much as $75 million, with an inclusion of an apology for the Harris interview. Mr. Trump’s team is expected to seek an apology from one of the marquee personalities, such as Mr. Pelley. 

However, it is unclear if Mr. Pelley would stick around to issue the apology or be fired if he refused. Multiple reports have indicated that there could be a staff exodus at “60 Minutes” amid the tensions over Mr. Trump’s lawsuit, which could see some high-profile on-air personalities leave the network.