Shortly before our Oct. 1 annual dinner, we learned about a conversation Rich Lowry, editor of National Review and at the time our scheduled speaker, had on the Megyn Kelly Show.
We have great respect for Rich Lowry and National Review. That’s why we had invited him to be our speaker. We did not feel we could defend what we heard, however, and decided to change speakers.
Four weeks later, numerous people we admire have told us they have also now looked at and listened to the interview and have concluded he did not mean to say what we thought he said.
Looking back, I realize that I, as president of the Badger Institute, moved too hastily and should, instead, have taken more time to allow full reflection on Rich Lowry’s excellent reputation and career. I regret that.
We did not want to impugn him in any way, and we did not want to detract from his ability to offer an explanation or to weigh in on American politics and policy.
To that end, we decided early in the day on Monday to reach out to him and invite him to speak at an event here in Wisconsin in the near future.
We learned later that he will be coming to speak elsewhere in Wisconsin in December. We invited him nevertheless, and he has accepted. We will work out details in the days to come.
