Controversial right-wing speaker to appear on campus

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh will speak at Iowa State on Oct. 18. 

K. Rambo
October 17, 2017

Turning Point USA, a conservative student organization, and the ISU College Republicans will be bringing right-wing pundit Joe Walsh to the ISU campus.

Walsh, who will be speaking at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Gilman Hall, a former tea party congressman in Illinois, is known by many for having a long history of controversial remarks on many subjects.

ISU Turning Point USA President Benjamin Whittington said Walsh will be speaking about the difference between “crony capitalism” and “real capitalism,” as well as talking about “corruption in Washington politics.”

Whittington said, “we have a rule of thumb for our speakers or anything to not talk about social issues or anything like that.”  

Turning Point USA, founded by Charlie Kirk in 2012, has a history of inviting controversial right-wing speakers to campuses and conferences, including Milo Yiannopoulos, Ben Shapiro and Tomi Lahren.

While Whittington expressed that Turning Point USA stays away from social issues, Kirk has taken many stances on social issues, ranging from abortion to religion, gun control and gender identities.

Walsh is known by many for his controversial social views and has been repeatedly accused of being racist, sexist and Islamophobic, openly advocating for the profiling of people of the Muslim faith in January.

Whittington did not feel Walsh’s statements should impact being invited to speak by Turning Point USA.

“As someone who is, I guess, who is black and a minority, I do not feel that a lot of Mr. Walsh’s statements would disqualify him from … being invited by my club to speak about topics about, you know, liberty and free-market capitalism,” Whittington said.

Walsh claimed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2016 that Dr. King would support the “All Lives Matter” movement. Following backlash to the statement, Walsh made an additional statement many found questionable.

Walsh has also made statements arguing that women in the U.S. do not have a right to birth control.

Walsh has used racial slurs on twitter at least twice and was temporarily removed from his own radio show in 2014 for using racial slurs.

Walsh, an outspoken critic of anthem protests, made a controversial statement about Stevie Wonder, referring to him as “another ungrateful black multi-millionaire,” in September when Wonder kneeled in solidarity with protesters against police brutality.

Walsh also drew fire for his justification of President Trump’s past remarks about sexually assaulting women because of his celebrity status.

Walsh also supports removing “DREAMers” from the United States.

Walsh was accused of advocating violence against Black Lives Matter protesters and former President Barack Obama when declaring war in a tweet he later deleted. Walsh denies the tweet was a threat.