(KRON)—President Donald Trump threatened to cut federal funding from University of California, Berkeley Thursday morning which leads to many people wondering what would happen if he did.
Federal funds are given to the university so they are able to use it for financial aid to low income students, according to Dan Moguloff of the UC Berkeley Department of Public Affairs.
The funds are also used to support research the university does for the nation and the state of California, Moguloff said.
In 2016, UC Berkeley students received $200 million in federal financial aid and another $400 million was given toward research.
If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view – NO FEDERAL FUNDS?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017
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Trump hinted at possibly cutting federal funding to the university after riots broke out there Wednesday night over Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos speaking at the school.
Yiannopoulos ended up not speaking because the protests turned to violent around 6 p.m. before he was scheduled to speak.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee released a statement after Trump’s threat.
Milo Yiannopoulos has made a career of inflaming racist, sexist and nativist sentiments. Berkeley has a proud history of dissent and students were fully within their rights to protest peacefully. However, I am disappointed by the unacceptable acts of violence last night which were counterproductive and dangerous.
“President Donald Trump cannot bully our university into silence. Simply put, President Trump’s empty threat to cut funding from UC Berkeley is an abuse of power. As a senior member of the education funding subcommittee, I will continue to stand up to President Trump’s overreach and defend the rights of our students and faculty.
