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Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles Confront Political Violence And Transgender Ideology At TPUSA Event
Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles spoke Tuesday night at the University of Idaho as part of Turning Point USA’s college tour.
The Daily Wire hosts railed against rising political violence from the Left, including the gunman who attempted to assassinate President Trump last Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ dinner.
“The worst thing about left-wing radicals is, yeah, they’re violent, they’re evil, they’re soulless, and they’re such corny dorks too,” Walsh said. “That’s the one thing you take from this guy, the latest attempted assassin. You look at his manifesto, and it’s, yeah, it’s all the mainstream Democrat talking points, but it’s just so, so lame.”
Asked to weigh in on the news that former FBI Director James Comey had been indicted a second time for making threats against President Donald Trump, Knowles said the move was “a very good start.”
“I want Hassan Piker arrested. I want all of the elected officials, the Democrats, the media figures who have called for violence against conservatives. I want them to be prosecuted. I want them to know that will not stand in America,” Knowles told the packed auditorium. “We’ve got a great start with this administration, and we need a lot more of it.”
The event, hosted by the University of Idaho’s TPUSA Chapter, is one of five college campuses that Turning Point USA visited in April to honor the legacy of its founder, Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated at Utah Valley University last September.
Throughout the night, members of the audience stepped up to question Walsh and Knowles. One, a transgender-identifying activist, accused Walsh of misrepresenting a graph that shows what percentage of mass shooters are transgender.
“Well, first of all, I think, as someone who believes that women have penises, you’re not one to lecture people for lying,” Walsh said. “Now I think the real fundamental issue here is that transgenderism itself is a lie. It’s a falsehood.”
The debate then turned to gender ideology and children. Walsh laid out what behavior he believes constitutes child grooming.
“When I have used the word groomer to refer to leftists, I have done it in specific cases where they are having drag queens perform for children, or where children themselves are dressing up like drag queens and performing for adults, or where children are being chemically castrated and sexually mutilated,” Walsh said.
The activist pushed back.
“I mean, quite literally, I’ve watched drag shows at like, old folks homes and stuff like that,” the student said.
“Now you’re grooming granny, too?” Walsh joked. “Why? Why have drag queens around kids at all? Why do that?”
The discussion moved to the looming November midterms. Walsh conceded some foreign policy divisions within the Republican Party, but encouraged students to use their voice to oppose any policy disagreements, regardless of who’s in the White House.
“You should speak up, because we’re Americans, and that’s what we do. I’ve criticized the Trump administration where I think they deserve it, but this defeatism, this doomerism you get from some on the right, where they say, ‘Well, you know, we shouldn’t even have voted for Trump. What was the point?’ It’s like, well, okay, so we have President Kamala Harris. Do we need to explain why that would be worse than what we currently have?”
He also hailed the Trump administration for what he described as “America First” victories.
“We did shut down the border, and for years and years and years, that was the banner that we marched under as conservatives shut down the border, shut down the border, shut down the border. And it’s like, we do it, and then we immediately move on. That doesn’t really matter. Let’s find something else to complain about, Walsh said.
“Because conservatives can never be happy,” Knowles interjected. “It’s like, one of the most charming things about us.”