...
By Aila Slisco
Writer
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A University of Kansas professor has been suspended after controversy erupted over his rhetoric suggesting that men who refuse to vote for female presidential candidates should be lined up and shot.
University of Kansas spokesperson Erinn Barcomb-Peterson told The Topeka Capital-Journal in an article published on Wednesday that athletics lecturer Phillip Lowcock had been placed on administrative leave and was the subject of an investigation after a video surfaced of him making the comments during a recent lecture.
"We are aware of the video, which was recorded during a class earlier this semester," Barcomb-Peterson said. "The instructor is being placed on administrative leave pending further investigation. The instructor offers his sincerest apologies and deeply regrets the situation."
Read More on U.S.
"His intent was to emphasize his advocacy for women's rights and equality, and he recognizes he did a very poor job of doing so," she added. "The university has an established process for situations like this and will follow that process."
While Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee for president, Lowcock does not mention any particular presidential candidate in the video and appears to be commenting rhetorically on men who think women are not intelligent enough to serve as president.
Lowcock also appears to recognize that his rhetoric could result in backlash immediately after making his remarks.
"There are going to be some males in our society that will refuse to vote for a potential female president because they don't think females are smart enough to be president," Lowcock says in the video. "We could line all those guys up and shoot them. They clearly don't understand the way the world works."
"Did I say that?" he continues. "Scratch that from the recording. I don't want the deans hearing that I said that."
Newsweek reached out to Lowcock via email for comment on Wednesday.
Former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee, has repeatedly suggested that Harris is not intelligent enough to be president, having referred to the vice president as "dumb," "stupid," or "low IQ" during campaign events and media appearances.
Lowcock's recorded remarks quickly inspired outrage from Republicans, with a number of conservative media outlets and comments on social media suggesting that he was calling for men who do not support Harris in this year's election to be executed.
...
Kansas Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran, both Republicans, condemned Lowcock's remarks in Wednesday posts on X, formerly Twitter.
"This is disturbing and inappropriate," Moran wrote. "There should never be a call for violence anytime or anywhere in the classroom. We must cool down the political rhetoric and be respectful and civil to each other, & that is especially true for someone charged with teaching our young people."
Marshall called on the University of Kansas to "take immediate action and fire this professor" while suggesting that he had spoken to university officials about the matter.
"We have been in touch with the Chancellor's Office, and they have confirmed that this professor has been placed on immediate administrative leave," Marshall said. "This guy shouldn't be within 100 yards of a university and I am calling for his swift termination."
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines