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Conservative commentator Michael Knowles to visit University of Iowa Monday
Protest planned days after the election
Nov. 8, 2024 12:38 pm, Updated: Nov. 11, 2024 10:02 am
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
IOWA CITY — Six days after Donald Trump achieved a historic victory that will return him to the White House next year, controversial conservative commentator Michael Knowles on Monday will speak at the University of Iowa — inciting push back from some on campus in the form of vandalism and planned protests.
“This morning, we discovered that someone wrote ‘fascist’ on our banner,” Jasmyn Jordan, head of the UI Young Americans for Freedom student group and chair of the national organization, told The Gazette.
The vandalized banner was promoting the Monday evening visit from Michael Knowles, a conservative commentator who in 2016 joined The Daily Wire — a conservative media company founded the year prior by conservative Ben Shapiro.
Knowles — who has 1.1 million followers on X, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds — in 2017 published a top-selling book, “Reasons to Vote for Democrats,” which Trump praised as a “great book for your reading enjoyment.” He also launched a podcast in 2020 with Sen. Ted Cruz titled, “Verdict.”
He’s been outspoken against LGTBQ ideology, defended the Crusades and colonization, and mocked climate activist Greta Thunberg.
In his visit to Iowa City next week, Knowles plans to take questions from the audience after giving a speech he’s titled, “The Long National Nightmare.”
Jordan in promoting the event said Knowles will “cover crucial issues facing the nation, including advancing the conservative movement in the aftermath of a historic conservative election victory.”
He plans to explore the following questions, she said:
- Is America’s cultural decline inevitable?
- How can we fight the leftist ideologies threatening our foundational values?
- What steps can conservatives take to push back and reclaim the nation’s moral compass?
Free tickets are available for the event in the Iowa Memorial Union — which has a 200-person capacity — and Jordan is expecting a “packed audience.”
Knowles on Thursday wrote on X, “Looking forward to celebrating recent events at the University of Iowa on Monday!”
But some UI students and student groups have pushed back, removing fliers about Knowles’ visit, writing on some of the posters, and distributing their own fliers about a 6:30 p.m. protest Monday at Hubbard Park, adjacent the union.
“YAF is bringing another fascist transphobe to our city and this campus,” according to the flier. “Show up for your trans community members. Meet transphobia with resistance!”
In Young Americans for Freedom’s promotion of the event, organizers characterize it as a “call to action for those invested in shaping a brighter, more principled future for America.”
“With the outcome of the election highlighting the nation’s shift toward conservative ideals, Knowles’ remarks will be particularly relevant for students, activists, and all those concerned about America’s cultural trajectory.”
If you go
Who: Michael Knowles, hosted by Young Americans for Freedom at the University of Iowa
What: Speaking event titled “The Long National Nightmare” with Q&A session
Where: Iowa Memorial Union, International Ballroom, 125 N Madison Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
When: Monday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.
Tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/ec39b2ed-383e-451a-b321-c2678f7ecf1c
Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.
Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com
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