As part of his “Trump’s Not That Bad” video series, Austen Fletcher of “Fleccas Talks” visited the campus of Kansas State University recently to give a speech sponsored by Turning Point USA. But when a small group of protesters gathered outside the venue, Fletcher decided to get in “disguise” and go down to join them. What results is a revealing back and forth between Fletcher’s side and the protesters on what exactly they are there to condemn.
Before the event, Fletcher stands in one of the common areas and engages in some dialog with students passing by (video below). Citing Trump’s work promoting prison reform, creating five million new jobs, reducing ISIS to under a thousand fighters, and his exoneration in collusion accusations, Fletcher manages to get some students to agree that Trump’s not as bad as the media has made him out to be.
One male student notes that the other state school, Kansas University, has created a new class called “Angry White Male Studies,” which promises to explore “the deeper sources of this emotional state while evaluating recent manifestations of male anger” in the U.S. and Britain since the 1950s. “Employing interdisciplinary perspectives this course examines how both dominant and subordinate masculinities are represented and experienced in cultures undergoing periods of rapid change connected to modernity as well as to rights-based movements of women, people of color, homosexuals and trans individuals,” the course catalog description reads.
Even some students who weren’t complimentary of Trump, agreed that the media is biased and causing more division in the country.
Soon, some students begin to gather to protest the event. While protesters are provided various posters, the protest organizer begins to lead protesters in some warm-up chants: “The people united will never be divided!” he says through his bullhorn. “We want to make sure they hear us in that room!” he reminds them.
Written on the posters are various social justice messages, including “Racism Has No Place Here,” “Rights For Minorities Don’t Oppress The Majority,” and “No Hate At K-State.”
“This is what democracy looks like,” the protest leader chants, the protesters, who are overwhelmingly white, repeating, “This is what democracy looks like.”
Viewing the rather small protest group from the window, Fletcher explains that he’s going to get into “disguise” and infiltrate the protest. His disguise is, well, not the most subtle.
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Fleccas quickly gives up on the whole bunny glasses thing and just talks to the protesters, saying as he looks around at the signs that he doesn’t disagree with any of them, except for those protesting the presence of TPUSA.
“‘Racism has no place here.’ Done, I agree,” says Fletcher. “‘No hate at K-State.’ I hope not. … ‘Bigotry is not welcome.’ Where do I disagree with any of this?”
Asked by one of the TPUSA members what exactly they’re protesting, the protest leader says they’re not protesting anything specific the Kansas State chapter has done, rather the “rhetoric” of the national leaders of TPUSA.
The TPUSA member and Fletcher respond by asking for specific quotes and names. “Case by case, we’ll disavow it,” says one of the conservatives.
But the protest leader refuses to get specific, saying, “I did not come here to do that.”
Fletcher and the other conservatives push back, noting he came armed with his cell phone that supposedly has information on it.
Fletcher then bypasses the leader and directs some comments to the other protesters. “Whatever you think you’ve heard about us, let us know,” he says. “I don’t have any hate in my heart for anybody. I’m glad you’re here. First Amendment right. It’s our First Amendment right, too. I don’t think we disagree on a lot. I think if we do, it’s from a misunderstanding. I literally hold no hate in my heart for any group of people. I would never allow it to happen around me either. I’ve been an advocate for a number of different groups. I think you guys are doing a great thing in being out here and getting together. I do think that maybe you were misled a little bit when it comes to who we are as people.”
Another protest leader then takes to the bullhorn, cutting off Fletcher mid-speech, saying the leaders think “this dialog is not helpful to proving our point” and asking the protesters to move to a different location that will better get the attention of administrators.
WATCH (protest footage begins around the 6:50 mark):