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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Shapiro speech canceled for second time

Controversial conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire and former editor-at-large of Breitbart News, addresses the student group Young Americans for Freedom at the University of Utah on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Salt Lake City. The student group is now fighting to bring Shapiro to Whitworth University in Spokane and accusing campus leaders of censorship. (Leah Hogsten / AP)

A planned speech at Gonzaga University featuring political commentator Ben Shapiro has been canceled for a second time, this time because of a sponsor’s withdrawal.

The organizers, the university’s College Republicans chapter, announced the cancellation Tuesday in a Facebook post. The sponsor, Young America’s Foundation, disapproved of the venues at Gonzaga because of “a variety of concerns,” the post stated. YAF helps bring speakers like Shapiro to college campuses.

In November, College Republicans successfully gained a reversal of a decision by the university to ban Shapiro from speaking because it would be a “hostile environment for employees and students” and may draw protests.

Shapiro is editor-in-chief of the conservative website Daily Wire.