Protesters gathered outside the Oxford Union as Donald Trump’s former communications manager, Anthony Scaramucci, arrived to speak on Monday night.
The protest, which was organised by a coalition from the Oxford Revolutionary Socialists, Oxford SU Woman’s Campaign, the Climate Justice Campaign, the LGBTQ Campaign, and the Oxford Migrant Society, amassed a crowd of around 10 protesters.
They gathered outside the Union whilst members queued up outside to listen to the talk. Among their chants were “Fuck Trump, Fuck the KKK, Fuck the Racist USA” and “Oxford Union, shame on you”.
Chants continued once the talk had started, with protesters shouting “Get up, walk out”. Their chants could be heard from inside the Union chamber.
Scaramucci was notoriously fired from the Trump Administration only ten days after being announced as the President’s Communications Director.
Taisie Tsikas, a spokesperson for the organisers of the protest, said in a statement: “In regards to whether Scaramucci is himself a fascist, it barely matters.
“In fighting fascism, we must also oppose ourselves to those who ally with the forces of fascism, which Scaramucci has unambiguously done by serving in Trump’s racist and authoritarian regime”.
Oliver Eagleton, studying English at Wadham and originally from Boston, was protesting outside the Union. He told Cherwell: “Scaramucci does not deserve a platform with the Union – he is an irrelevant nuisance and not a politician or experienced in political life.
“The Union is clearly doing this purely for the sake of controversy”.
Alexander Wallis, who was queuing to hear Scaramucci speak, said: “I think this protest is a bit of an exaggeration – the Union is a bastion of free speech and anyone should be able to speak.
“He does offer some political insights and I think it’s much better hear what he has to say and disagree with it, than to stop him from speaking”.
This is not the first incident of a protest against platforming outside of the Union.
In November 2016, protesters opposed the Union’s decision to allow Donald Trump’s former Campaign Manager, Corey Lewandowski to speak, on allegations of sexism, Islamophobia, and racism.
Many of the same chants were used then as on Monday night.
The Oxford Union Society refused to comment.
