Campus Clash, a conservative forum, arrived at MU at Conservation Auditorium to promote the conservative presence both on the MU campus and university campuses nationwide.
Charlie Kirk is the founder of Turning Point USA, the organization behind the Campus Clash events and invited Conservative commentators Candace Owens and Brandon Tatum to speak alongside him.
The crowd filled the entirety of the auditorium on April 24 and was composed of predominantly white students, with many wearing conservative apparel, such as ‘Make America Great Again’ hats and campaign shirts.
The event began with ‘USA’ and ‘big gov sucks’ chants, later singing the national anthem before Kirk, Owens and Tatum took the stage. Much of their talk criticized liberal ideology, like abortion and feminism.
“I love masculinity,” Owens said at the MU event. “It’s not toxic. Society is driven by strong men and strong women. We need strong male figures. Having a strong male figure in my grandfather is what saved me. It’s what saved me from liberalism.”
Owens has drawn media attention for her views. A clip of Owens speaking before Congress became the most viewed C-SPAN video of all time as of April 2019, according to The Hill. The video shows Owens rebutting claims that she defended Hitler when describing nationalism.
Owens has also faced much criticism for creating Blexit, a movement aimed at convincing black Americans to leave the Democratic Party.
After roughly 40 minutes, the speakers began answering questions from attendees, saying they wanted those who disagreed with them to stand in the front of the line for asking questions.
When asked why Kirk didn’t criticize Trump for vetoing a resolution that would have withdrawn the U.S. from the Yemen conflict, Kirk dodged around the question, saying he can’t have a stance on all of Trump’s issues. However, he did say he doesn’t endorse the U.S. supplying weapons to Saudi Arabia.
Audience members also asked them about climate change and what their stance is on the issue.
“Get a bunch of young Elon Musks,” Owens said when asked how to combat climate change. “Get a bunch of young entrepreneurs or college kids to figure something out.”
Owens then stated that plastic bottles in the ocean were something that bothered her, but she didn’t connect the issue to climate change. She didn’t mention renewable or clean energy in her response and has historically denied climate change’s existence, according to NBC News.
“What we’re against is that you’re going to arbitrarily tax us and put together some agreement like the Paris Accord that fundamentally did absolutely nothing,” she said.
_Edited by Leah Glasser | lglasser@themaneater.com_
