The architect of George W. Bush’s presidency triggered a protest to his visit to a Wisconsin university Thursday, drawing about 40 protesters carrying signs calling him a war criminal at the University of Wisconsin-Milwauke.

“We believe that before he speaks at this university for thousands of dollars, he should be put on trial for the crimes against humanity that he and the rest of the Bush administration committed,” Natasha Morgan of Students for a Democratic Society told local tv network WISN.

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Hecklers interrupted Bush’s former Deputy Chief of Staff several times.

“I’ll make a deal with you,” Rove said. “I’ll keep my remarks short and then you can get a microphone and you can ask me any damn question you want. Until then, do something that may come hard to a liberal intellectual, and that is show respect for the rights of others, like everybody else who came here tonight.”

Rove used his speech to slam Obama, saying that he had tripled the deficit. Rove believes that Americans voted for the president because they mistakenly thought he was inspirational.

Reports say that Rove was paid $25,000 for his speech.

WISN has more details here.

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This video is from WISN, broadcast Dec. 3, 2009.

Download video via RawReplay.com

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An earlier version of this story mistakenly placed the protest at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.