Rove told one protester to wait until a question-and-answer session at the end. Rove heckled at college speech

Protesters repeatedly interrupted a speech by Karl Rove on Tuesday, calling the former White House adviser a “murderer” and “terrorist” for his role in the invasion of Iraq.

Rove tried to counter the protesters during the 30-minute-long speech at the University of Massachusetts’ main campus in Amherst, according to the Springfield, Mass., CBS affiliate and The Springfield Republican.


Rove told one protester to wait until a question-and-answer session at the end of the speech and asked others to greet war-supporting Democrats the same way.

“If you object to that, I want you to show up the next time Hillary Clinton comes here and tell her you disagree with her vote,” Rove yelled at one protester. “It’s either that or you’re saying those people were hoodwinked and that’s an insult to those people including Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, and others.”

Most of the crowd was supportive of Rove, giving him a standing ovation as he walked on stage and applauding when university police officers escorted one protester out of the room. Some of the protests were organized by Code Pink, a group infamous for interrupting congressional hearings.

Rove stood his ground against the protesters, and gave a simple answer when one student asked if he would still invade Iraq knowing what he knew today.

“Yes,” Rove said.

The speech was sponsored by the Young Republicans groups at UMass-Amherst and at nearby Smith College. Rove dropped his $25,000 fee to $15,000 for the appearance, according to The Republican.