Beckwith spars with a few, covers 20+ topics in a two-hour Warsaw town hall
This post was provided by News Now Warsaw
By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Some area residents had been urging elected officials to participate in a town hall in Warsaw to discuss concerns, and they got it Tuesday night when Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith hosted a sprawling, nearly two-hour conversation at Warsaw City Hall.
The Q-and-A touched on a wide variety of policy issues in a free-wheeling give-and-take that included at least two heated exchanges.
Tuesday’s event attracted about 60-70 people and marked the eighth this year since he took office. It was also the first in northern Indiana.
The gathering capped a full day of meetings by Beckwith with media, community leaders, police and North Webster residents concerned about a dam.
Earlier this year, some Warsaw-area residents had complained loudly about the lack of willingness by U.S. Rep Rudy Yakym to host a town hall. He and members of Congress have refrained from having large public meetings amid growing political violence that included the recent assassination of a state lawmaker in Minnesota.
Tuesday’s town hall included two police officers inside the council chambers where the event was held, two more in the lobby, and another who could be seen through a window pacing along the nearby sidewalk.
Among the highlights, Beckwith doubled down on his argument about the historic three-fifths compromise, arguing that it was not a pro-discrimination effort. Those comments came up earlier this year and drew a backlash from some Indianapolis pastors and a suggestion by Gov. Mike Braun that, in the future, Beckwith needs to think before he talks.
The basis for the entire issue came up during the General Assembly by a lawmaker concerned with a specific bill that touched on race.
“This is because we had a senator at the State Senate saying, ‘Hey, three-fifths compromise, I would’ve been treated like three-fifths of a person.’ “ Beckwith recalled.
“That’s not even what that was …. She didn’t even know her history. I like to make sure people know accurate history. I will double down on that all day long, and I defend what I said because I said what was right.
An unidentified woman who prompted the topic questioned why he would bring up such a sensitive subject, and then quickly brought up Beckwith’s past assertion that Democrats pay groups to help turn out the vote.
He did so by recalling a conversation with a friend who is a black pastor.
“He literally told me the Democrat Party in Marion County came to him and would pay him $15,00 a year to get voter turnout. What he’d use it for was for playgrounds, for parks in his church backyard,” Beckwith said.
“This is straight from his mouth to my ears, and there have been other pastors who have received the same type of contribution. And it’s all the same … ‘You can use this however you want, but we would really like it — wink, wink — if you get Democrat voters to come out and vote for Democrats in the primary and general.”
Beckwith also got into a heated exchange with Brian Smith, chairman of Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District, who urged Beckwith to back up his claims that Democrats pay groups to encourage voter turnout by taking it to federal court.
At one point, Smith and Beckwith began talking over each other, with Beckwith saying he’s capable of speaking louder if needed.
“I’m telling you what happened. From his mouth to my ears,” Beckwith said.
“You don’t have evidence,” Smith said.
“I got a witness. Is that not evidence?” Beckwith replied.
“It needs to be investigated,” Smith said.
Beckwith then added, “Now that we’ve got a good Republican-appointed prosecutor down there (District Court in Southern Indiana), maybe we’ll do something about it,” sparking some applause.
“This has been going on, not just in Indianapolis, this goes on all over the country. We’re seeing this time and time again,” Beckwith said.
Abortion was another subject that came up and led to a lengthy discussion.
Beckwith said he’d be OK with Indiana allowing abortions in the case of rape with one condition.
“I want to see us go after the person who raped the mom, caused the muder of that child to happpen – I want to see us go after that person (and see them) not only charged with rape but alo with first degree murder, he said.
That surfaced after a woman criticized President Trump for his tendency to demean people as well as accusations by numerous women that he raped them years ago.
Beckwith mentioned the importance of forgiveness and pointed out that those alleged incidents happened before he was elected, and then reminded the audience about former president Bill Clinton who had oral sex with an intern while in the White House, which drew hoots and hollers from the crowd.
That led to Beckwith’s thoughts on the sexual revolution and what he calls “consequence-less” sexual activity that often relies on the use of condoms by young people.
And he added out of the blue: “You know Kamala Harris started as a escort, right? That’s where she got her start.”
Several people, including a farmer, Don Zolman, thanked Beckwith for hosting the event.
“I want to thank you for coming. You had the courage to come here and take questions from people, and I’d like for you to pass on a message to Rudy Yakym so maybe he could do the same thing for his constituents,” Zolman said.
“I encourage every elected official,” Beckwith said.
Beckwith talked with reporters afterward and reflected on the interactions.
“I always say, ‘Bring your hardest questions’ … and I love that. It got a little chippy back and fourth which I again think is fantastic and ultimately, I think people walked out respecting both sides.” he said.
He was also asked about President Trump’s massive policy bill, often referred to as “One Big Beautiful Bill, which was approved by the Senate earlier in the day and needs a final send-off by the House before it can be signed into law.
“Ultimately, Gov. Braun, myself — we trust President Trump. We’ve seen his leadership. He campaigned on this. It’s not perfect. I’d like to see a lot more cutting of spending, but ultimately he won the election because he said he’d do this and we’ve got to give him the benefit of the doubt that this is gonna be a great thing for America,” Beckwith said.
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