Boston College probes right-wing speech by Nick Solheim

Solheim is the chief executive officer of American Moment, a conservative advocacy group, according to his X profile. He is also the host of the Moment of Truth podcast.

After the group’s launch in 2021, JD Vance served on its board of advisors until his Senate election in 2023, according to the organization’s website.

The site also says every “single member of our cadre must be exceptionally competent, possess good character, and above all have a worldview that places America first.”

In a speech titled “How to Implement the MAGA Agenda,” Solheim told listeners they needed to be “willing to be killed” for their conservative beliefs, according to reporting from The Heights, the Jesuit school’s independent student newspaper.

“Live in recognition of the fact that they will kill you and everybody that you love to get what they want — open borders, sex changes for minors, so-called gay marriages, health care for illegal immigrants, and so on,” Solheim told attendees, according to The Heights. “If they’re willing to kill the people making this policy, they’re more than willing to kill the people who voted for it, too.”

Solheim continued, “You need to be willing to be killed,” adding that there “are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people in this country who would kill you for just being in this room.”

The Heights also quoted him as urging restraint despite the incendiary rhetoric, telling the crowd at one point that “we don’t assassinate, attack indiscriminately, or violate our enemy, and for a simple reason. As Tucker Carlson once said, ‘That’s not how white men fight.’”

He added an ominous note about the potential for civil war in the US, The Heights reported.

“The moment that we’re in right immediately is truly catastrophic, perhaps even approaching the level of a civil war, or at the very least, all-out extrajudicial lawlessness,” Solheim said.

He also cited the September assassination of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk in Utah, according to a transcript of his speech that Solheim posted to X on Monday.

A college spokesperson referred a Globe reporter on Monday to a follow-up article in The Heights referencing the campus investigation and the GOP group’s denunciation of Solheim.

In a statement last week to The Heights, Kyle Neary, associate director of organizations and programs at BC’s Office of Student Involvement, confirmed the matter was under investigation.

“The speaker event hosted by the BC College Republicans on Monday, 10/20, was not approved by the Office of Student Involvement,” Neary told The Heights.

Asked about the status of the probe Monday, a BC spokesperson said the “College Republicans acknowledged that they had not properly registered the event in accordance with the University’s speaker policy. We appreciate that they took responsibility for their actions and that they chose to denounce the speaker’s remarks as unrepresentative of their organization and Boston College’s policies regarding respectful public discourse.”

In a statement to The Heights last week, the College Republicans decried remarks Solheim made in his speech and said they were cooperating with the investigation.

“Mr. Solheim’s views and rhetoric were unprecedented and unrepresentative of the views of our club members, and we do not endorse any of these views,” the group’s executive board said. “We uphold the notion of civil discourse and believe that there is always a time for respectful discussion, even with those who do not agree with us.”

The College Republicans said they mistakenly failed to register the Solheim event with BC properly, the student newspaper reported. The group didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning.

The Boston College Democrats said in a statement that they “strongly condemn” the rhetoric that Solheim used in his speech.

“Fellow Americans — including LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and Democrats — were portrayed as enemies,” the College Democrats said. “This language is not only false but irresponsible. It promotes fear and division in a time when our nation and campus require empathy, reason, and dialog.”

Some conservatives, however, have criticized the BC Republicans for denouncing Solheim in the wake of the controversy. The College Republicans of America blasted the BC chapter via X on Friday in all caps, noting the group invited a Democratic congressman to speak after Solheim made waves.

“THE BOSTON COLLEGE REPUBLICANS HAVE BECOME A TOTAL DISGRACE!” the College Republicans of America said in the post. “THEY TURNED THEIR BACKS ON ONE OF OUR STRONGEST ALLIES, NICK SOLHEIM FROM AMERICAN MOMENT — A GREAT GUY, SMART, FUNNY, PATRIOTIC, AND FIGHTING FOR THE FUTURE OF CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS. INSTEAD OF STANDING UP FOR HIM, THEY CONDEMNED HIM LIKE THE LEFT!”

Yes, via X on Monday, when he tweeted out a transcript of his speech and also offered up a few more thoughts.

“I‘ve been disavowed by the Boston College Republicans chapter for a speech I gave last week,” Solheim wrote. “I paid my own way in the hopes of recruiting more BC grads to participate in @AmericanMoment‘s programs. You can be controversial or you can be a coward.”

Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.