Indiana Lieutenant Governor-elect Micah Beckwith told the Indiana Daily Student on Wednesday the state should investigate IU using taxpayer dollars in “covert” ways to support the IDS, which he believes contributes to pushing a “one-sided” political narrative.
Beckwith participated in an interview with the IDS one day after he threatened the student-run news publication and IU in an X post. In the post, Beckwith labeled the IDS’ Nov. 7 front page — which included a photo illustration of President-elect Donald Trump with quotes from his former political allies — as “elitist leftist propaganda.” He also said in the X post that IU needs to stop the propaganda “or we will be happy to stop it for them.”
In the interview, Beckwith also elaborated on claims in his post that the U.S. is not a democracy and that higher education institutions are “indoctrination centers.”
A representative for U.S. Senator and Indiana Governor-elect Mike Braun did not respond to request for comment by time of publication.
A transcript of this IDS interview has been edited for length and clarity. A full audio recording of the interview is available here.
Mia Hilkowitz: In your tweet, you referred to the IDS front cover as “WOKE propaganda at its finest,” and you mentioned how you thought America’s higher education institutions are indoctrination centers. And I was wondering if you would be able to elaborate on this a little bit more and exactly what you meant by this.
Beckwith: Yeah, absolutely. So, in the higher academic world, all over the state and all over the nation, right now if you're conservative, you're not allowed to speak out. And I've had multiple people from IU specifically who are either professors or students on campus right now, they do not feel that they can speak out without retribution. And so, what's happened in our higher academic world is that liberalism or leftism has been pushed, while the other voice has been silenced. The conservative viewpoint has been silenced. And so, what I'm calling out is kind of this blanket sort of cover that's been thrown onto places like IU and where freedom of speech really doesn't exist because the left won't let it exist. And so, we've seen that at IU. I've got countless examples of people who feel that they've been targeted because of their conservative viewpoints. I think what the IDS did to President Trump was a low blow, and I don't think that you would have written something like that if Kamala Harris would have would have won. I mean, maybe you would have. But I mean that's my question to you: would that have been the retort of a Kamala Harris victory? If she would have won would there have been an article that would have kind of approached it from the same vantage point? Maybe there would have been, but I doubt it. I think if we're being honest, I don't think that would been the case.
Hilkowitz: So, you were mentioning a couple of examples that people have brought to you. Would you be willing to share any of the specific examples so we can better understand what you're referring to, of students feeling silenced?
Beckwith: I'll give you one example of someone (who) messaged me the other day. They ended up leaving IU after their freshman year a few years ago because in their English class they were told that their conservative viewpoint is not welcomed in their class and if they do that, they're going (be taken out of) a class. They keep pushing that, and the person didn't know how to respond to that, so they actually transferred to Purdue. And so, this was one example. Again, I've got examples from professors who have talked to me over the course of the last couple years that I've been running for lieutenant governor, who have said 'we're not free to share our viewpoints as professor because we would be hit with retribution from the administration, from leadership of the college.' And so that's, I mean it's going on. I mean this is not one person, you know, not a far outlier. This is a pretty consistent method that I hear often from people who are currently enrolled, currently work or have been enrolled or have worked at the college.
Hilkowitz: In your tweet and in this interview, you're saying that conservative viewpoints are being silenced, people don't feel they can express those viewpoints. I guess what I'm trying to understand is, is this saying that IU as an institution is silencing these viewpoints? Or are you trying to say in the tweet that, like the Indiana Daily Student is trying to silence those viewpoints?
Beckwith: I think it's both. I think the conservative viewpoint isn’t very welcome in Bloomington in general. I think when you when you look at IU, when you look at the IDS — I mean would you guys consider yourself a fair, you know, arbiter of journalistic integrity at the IDS? Do you guys write glowing Donald Trump articles, or do you find that you're more critical of the right more often than you are on the left? I guess that's a question I have for you. What do you think about that? Do you think you guys do a good job of being fair on both sides?
Hilkowitz: Yeah, just as a reporter and editor, I would say we always aim for fair coverage, but we're always open to criticism and reader feedback, and that is something that we try to incorporate. But yeah, I would say fair coverage is what we try to achieve. So, I just want to make sure I understand, you say both IDS and IU are contributing to this silence. I just want to make sure I understand.
Beckwith: Yeah.
Hilkowitz: Gotcha. OK. And another thing I was wondering is in the tweet you said, 'this type of elitist leftist propaganda needs to stop,' and 'we will be happy to stop it for them.' So are there any specific actions that you would consider taking once you get into office or any clarification on what you were considering with the 'we will be happy to stop it for them' (statement).
Beckwith: Yeah, I think it's using taxpayer dollars to silence the conservative viewpoint. So that's going to stop. We're not going to let — again, I have no problem with the dissenting viewpoint or a differing viewpoint than myself, and more power to the IDS to write whatever you want to write. I just don't want taxpayer dollars going to put one side of the issue. If you're doing a fair job of highlighting both sides and giving everybody a voice, then that's fine. Anyone who's being honest, and I think this is the general sentiment from around the country. This is why we saw Red Wave a couple weeks ago, or last week, is because people recognize that the conservative viewpoint is being vilified. I mean, we’re being called Nazis, we’re being called bigots, we’re being called all the '-ists' in the world when we're not that. And yet if you go to a viewpoint, if you go to the campus of IU, you're going to see that narrative is pushed more and more. And I think what your story did was added fuel to the fire of that division. And I don't like seeing this division. I want people to have fair and open and honest debate, but that can't happen when you're silencing the conservative viewpoint or silencing one side. I don't care. If it's conservatives silencing the liberals, I don’t want that either. I want it open and honest. I want fair. And tax dollars should not be picking sides, and that's what's going on right now at IU, they’re using our tax dollars and there is a side being picked and it's not fair to the other side.
Hilkowitz: When it comes to the IDS, the taxpayer dollars, at least from my understanding of looking at the budget, goes toward capital improvement, renovation and maintenance projects on IU’s campus and some scholarships, things like that. And tax dollars, from my understanding of course, are not going toward the IDS because we are financially independent. But I guess I'm wondering, you say 'taxpayer dollars at work' — would the state consider stripping all taxpayer dollars for IU in general, even if those aren’t going to technically to the IDS?
Beckwith: Are taxpayer dollars going to IDS in any way?
Hilkowitz: No.
Beckwith: Not in any way? So, you guys don't benefit from taxpayer dollars at all?
Hilkowitz: No, we are an auxiliary, so we technically have like an IU name, but we are completely self-financially independent, so taxpayer dollars are not going toward the IDS.
Beckwith: So, your buildings (are) paid for by you guys? The scholarship money that is going to have staff on IDS, that's all coming independently, not from tax dollars, correct?
Hilkowitz: Yeah, so the IDS, as an organization, we pay IU to be in our newsroom and we also pay all of our own staff salaries, things like that. So we do not have any benefit from the taxpayer dollar.
Beckwith: Wasn't there $1,000,000 that was covered by taxpayer money to bail you guys out of some debt recently?
Hilkowitz: The Media School covered our deficit, but those were not taxpayer dollars. That was The Media School’s funding. What I understand is all taxpayer dollars from the state budget are not going toward that sort of thing. They're going toward capital improvement, maintenance, renovations, scholarships and grants that are outside of The Media School and outside of the IDS.
Beckwith: OK. Well, I would say it would be worth looking into where those taxpayer dollars are going. And again, I don't want to pull taxpayer dollars from IU if they're being fair, right? So, if you guys are being fair and if you're not using taxpayer dollars, then by all means, do what you want to do. You can go out and say whatever you want to say, and I protect your right to. I will protect your right to speak freely. The problem that I see is that I think that those tax dollars are being, they’re just being used sort of in a covert way to push this type of one-sided narrative. And so, I think from the perspective of myself and what Mike Braun and the administration is going to look at it and say, 'hey, we want fair and honest brokers in the liberal arts education world. We want fair and honest brokers and these public schools that won't silence one side over the other. That will allow all thoughts that come to the table.' And then we'll let truth win out where truth is. If taxpayer dollars are being used well, and you're not using taxpayer dollars to pick winners and losers, then that's great. But I think what is happening right now at IU and in schools around the country like IU, is that taxpayer dollars are being used to silence the conservative viewpoint. That is very easy to see. I think the majority of Americans see it, which is why we saw the election results that we saw on Tuesday night last week.
Hilkowitz: Thank you for clarifying that for me. Another question that I had for you is — you mentioned Senator Braun has these same concerns about conservative viewpoints being silenced in regards to the IDS. I was wondering if you have had any conversations with him specifically in regards to the IDS or the IDS front cover.
Beckwith: Not in regards to that, no. We have talked on the campaign trail in depth about education though, and I know that he sees the indoctrination happening within our state public school system, as well. And he's going to get to the bottom of it. He's going to make sure that, again, that we are not picking sides as a state, as a taxpayer funded entity. That all viewpoints are going to be protected and welcomed in a place like IU — and right now, that's not happening. Conservative viewpoints are being suppressed and attacked and vilified and we have countless stories, countless testimonies of that at work. So I think, you know, Mike himself is very concerned that you can't actually have a free and open education if you have one side suppressing the other side, and that's what we're going to get to the bottom of.
Hilkowitz: Gotcha. Yeah. And I just have two more questions for you. One more is, in the tweet, you also mentioned that, 'even though we aren't a democracy, but I don't expect I students to know that.' I know personally that was something I was a little curious about. Could you elaborate on what you mean by that 'we aren't a democracy?'
Beckwith: Well, indeed, you said that in in your article you said 'democracy is under attack' or 'he's a threat to democracy. Donald Trump's threat to democracy.' Well, you can't be a threat to something that we don't have. And we are not a democracy. Article 4, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution says we're a republican form of government, which means we are a republic, which is very different than democracy. You know, nowhere in our founding documents can you find democracy being spoken about as a positive thing. It's always a negative thing because democracy is mob rule. I think it's a really important clarification and so when we even subtly say, well, 'you know, we're a democracy' or 'democracy is under assault,' we're not a democracy, and the minority doesn't have rights in a democracy because the mob rule can vote to do things to the minority that they shouldn't do. And if it's in a democracy, that would be legal. A republic is a rule of law, and we have a constitutional law that everyone has to submit to and lives under, and that's the form of government that we are. So I think, again, I think it's just the dumbing down of American education and not teaching students properly what a democracy is and more importantly what it isn't. So that's why I call that out. It's kind of a pet peeve of mine when people say we're a democracy because that's a very dangerous thing. Our founders wrote extensively on how dangerous democracies can be, and they study world history and all throughout world history, democracies will always lead to the oppression of the minority. It happens every time, and so we just have got to be educating properly in the context of history what those words really mean.
Hilkowitz: Thank you for clarifying that for me. And my last question for you is I was wondering how you obtained a copy of the IDS since our circulation is usually only in Bloomington. And so, I was wondering if someone sent that to you or if you were able to get a copy yourself.
Beckwith: I had someone send it to me. It was sent to me, and multiple people around the state have reached out and they said, 'this is what's going on, and we are, we're not happy about it.' So it did get sent to me.
Hilkowitz: So they sent you a picture? Or like a copy of (the) paper?
Beckwith: That's right, yes. So, a copy of the paper.
Hilkowitz: Well, those are actually all the questions I have for you, but is there anything else you would like to add about your post or anything we've talked about or didn't talk about today that you think would be beneficial for people to know?
Beckwith: Yeah, I just want everyone to know that I think you should be pushing both sides. Don't be one-sided, and I think the IDS has been very one-sided, and I think IU has been very one-sided, and the conservative viewpoint is not represented. It's not allowed to be represented down at IU. So, I would say on behalf of taxpayers and being fair and equitable, we should welcome all sides to the debate.
Hilkowitz: Just one last follow up. You talked about one example of earlier, a student said they transferred to Purdue after they felt that their conservative viewpoints were suppressed in an English class. Are there any other specific examples with, like, with the IDS specifically with our stories not representing other viewpoints? I want to make sure that we can provide the full picture for readers if there's any specific stories or coverage.
Beckwith: Well, I think just with that one specific (cover). I have more, but the person that I shared with you earlier said I could share. The other people have not said I could share, so I'm not going to divulge who they were. But I could name, you know, dozens right now. Top of my head, if I had to. But I do have to run, and I appreciate the time. And I would just add just, you know, try to do a better job of being fair and open and honest to all sides.
