Protesters and supporters greeted former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee when he visited John Brown University on Thursday.
Huckabee addressed students during chapel as part of the Ray and Laurine Barnett Civic Leadership series. His speech was followed by a question and answer session with students at Simmons Great Hall.
About 50 demonstrators, including students and alumni, stood along the wall of the chapel while Huckabee spoke. Some demonstrators wore shirts that collectively spelled out "We Stand for Love," while others wore shirts that said "No Ban No Wall No Hate," and "Minority Rights are Human Rights." Additional students sitting in the crowd also wore the shirts.
Another smaller group of students on the other side of the chapel held a large banner with the words "Welcome," as Huckabee took the stage to thunderous applause.
A group of students and alumni began planning a demonstration with the theme of "Stand for Love," earlier in the week, according to Matt Feyerabend, leader of alumni protesters.
On Thursday morning, nearly 600 people had joined the Facebook group "JBU Direct Action: Stand Up to Huckabee," and 364 supporters had signed a Change.org petition titled "JBU: Make a Stand for Mercy and Call Out Injustices." In addition, a Go Fund Me page, titled Stand for Love, set a goal of raising $800 toward T-shirt printing costs, but ended up exceeding the goal, raising $905 on Wednesday. A total of 350 shirts were handed out to those who attended the chapel service, Feyerabend said.
The Change.org petition stated the group was concerned about some of Huckabee's support of President Donald Trump's vision for America. They also objected to Huckabee's Twitter messages that the group said promote messages of Islamaphobia, homophobia, nationalist Christianity, police brutality, racial injustice and neglect for refugees.
"Everyone had different concerns and frustrations with Governor Huckabee, but we all stood opposed to the way he conducts himself as a politician and political pundit," said Feyerabend. "He has chosen to behave like a bully and ridicule, demean and mock others, which is in stark contrast to not only Christian values but also his peers such as Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush or John Kasich."
University president Chip Pollard said he had received a number of calls and emails commenting on Huckabee's planned appearance. The university set up a question and answer session after the chapel service so Huckabee could dialogue with students, he said.
Huckabee told students it is not unusual for him to be protested and that he enjoys having a dialogue with demonstrators. He thanked the demonstrators for their respectful demeanor and said he was grateful that Americans have the right to express themselves.
Huckabee is a former Baptist minister, and holds an honorary degree from JBU. His wife Janet Huckabee is also an alumna of the college. He volunteered to speak at chapel and did not charge a speakers fee, said John Brown III. Brown described Huckabee's achievements as a two-term governor and said he has never doubted that Huckabee is a man of strong convictions with integrity and unwaivering faith.
Brown grew emotional as he addressed demonstrators and reminded them they were being shown respect because the university was allowing them to protest during a worship service.
Huckabee said he did not plan to talk about politics during chapel, a service that he said should be focused more on worship. He spoke to students about being the salt and light of the world, no-matter the profession they decide to pursue.
However, Huckabee did broach political subjects during the following question and answer session with students. The session lasted nearly an hour and was held in Simmons Great Hall. He fielded questions on subjects such as immigration, the recent executive order banning people from certain Muslim countries, his support for controversial political figures, and racism, which he called "evil."
When asked about how building a wall along the Mexican American border aligns with Biblical principals, Huckabee pointed out the Biblical character Nehemiah also built a wall.
He attributed his tweets that some found offensive , such as a "Flight out of Panama City FL delayed 2.5 hrs so far. Foggier than Rep John Lewis's memory," to his sense of humor.
"God has a sense of humor," he said with a laugh.
Huckabee said that Twitter is a great forum, but said that it is intended to be humorous, even if that is not how everyone receives it. He said that Lewis understood and would not have been offended.
Huckabee said he did not feel that he has compromised his Christian values by supporting Trump and Steve Bannon, chief strategist for the White House.
Huckabee said he knew Bannon personally and that he is an "incredibly brilliant person" who is very pro-Israel, despite accusations that he has ties to white nationalism. Huckabee said many of the things said about Bannon, and himself, on the internet are not true.
"Donald Trump was not my first choice for president, I was my first choice for president," Huckabee said, as he laughed with the crowd.
However, he added that Trump was his second choice for president because of his promise to bring jobs back and serve common people instead of the donor class.
"No, I don't think I compromised my values at all because I didn't elect him to be my value keeper," he said, adding that it is his opinion that Trump's values are much better than his opponent Hillary Clinton, especially on issues such as abortion.
When commenting on Trump's first two weeks in office, Huckabee said he thinks it is pretty remarkable that Trump has done exactly what he said he was going to do.
"I frankly think that Americans are happy that someone is taking action, and decisive action." Huckabee said. "And actually that is not really unpredicted, it's not irrational, and it's very much in keeping with what he said for two solid years on the campaign trail."
General News on 02/05/2017