Daily Wire host Matt Walsh confronted scores of demonstrators protesting his lecture in St. Louis on Wednesday night.
A crowd of anti-Walsh protesters demanded the Daily Wire host and bestselling children’s book author cancel the event, a speech for students of St. Louis University. The protesters blocked a street immediately outside the venue and chanted slogans such as “Hey-hey, ho-ho, Matt Walsh has got to go!” and “black lives matter!”
At one point during the protest, Walsh walked out of the venue accompanied by law enforcement to speak with the protesters. The Daily Wire host was met with boos, chants, and one man screaming “do not come over here!” The crowd took several steps back as Walsh approached.
“I went out to say hi to my protesters and give them a chance to answer my ‘what is a woman’ question. They declined, it seems,” Walsh posted on Twitter with video of the confrontation.
I went out to say hi to my protesters and give them a chance to answer my “what is a woman” question. They declined, it seems. pic.twitter.com/1qRzOPgod9
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) December 2, 2021
“My favorite part was when the guy shouted ‘do NOT come over here’ and then I came over there and he backed away,” he added. “This is no way to treat a children’s book author.”
The Young America’s Foundation posted another video showing Walsh approaching the crowd of protesters while they backed away.
BREAKING: protestors have blocked off the intersection outside of @MattWalshBlog’s lecture in St. Louis pic.twitter.com/DCvmV2PnAb
— YAF (@yaf) December 2, 2021
Daily Wire reporter Virginia Kruta posted several other videos of the protest.
Protesters gathered outside @MattWalshBlog event in St. Louis. pic.twitter.com/96RYG7sVZd
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) December 2, 2021
They keep cheering for themselves between chants. pic.twitter.com/2UzzRgXNlC
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) December 2, 2021
Walsh’s lecture sparked controversy long before the protest formed. In the days leading up to the event, Walsh’s lecture was blocked from taking place first on campus, then inside a church. As The Daily Wire reported:
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh has been blocked twice now by campus officials from speaking to students at St. Louis University (SLU) in Missouri over what appears to be a response to his conservative views.
The school at first claimed that seemingly arbitrary COVID-19 precautions would have to be followed, or the event would be canceled. However, after finding a new venue at a church “intimately close” with SLU, Walsh was again notified on Tuesday that his talk would have to be canceled after the new venue claimed that certain views held by Walsh are supposedly inconsistent with Roman Catholic teaching. Walsh is a practicing Roman Catholic.
Walsh released his children’s book last month, titled “Johnny the Walrus.” The book targets the impact that transgender ideology has had on children. The book topped bestselling charts on Amazon hours after its launch. As The Daily Wire reported:
Within hours of its publication, “Johnny the Walrus,” penned by Daily Wire host Matt Walsh, has been ranked among the top-selling books on Amazon.
The book, which tackles the issue of radical transgender ideology foisted on children, hit the number one spot on the Amazon Movers & Shakers list, which highlights the site’s biggest gainers in sales rank and is updated every hour.
“Embracing my true calling as a children’s author, I have written ‘Johnny the Walrus,’ a tale about an imaginative young boy who pretends to be a walrus,” Walsh told The Daily Wire.
“The success of the book proves that people are tired of the children’s book market being dominated by left wing propaganda,” he added. “Also, it indicates perhaps that there is a mostly untapped interest in walruses.”