Walker: ‘If I Can Take On 100K Protesters, I Can Do The Same’ With Islamic Terrorists

Gov. Scott Walker caused a stir on social media for a remark he made regarding the Islamic State group while answering questions at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.

Walker took the stage at CPAC late on Thursday afternoon. At one point, he was asked about how he would handle the threat posed by the Islamic State group were he president. He responded by saying that the country needs a commander in chief who will do anything in their power to stop “radical Islamic terrorists.”

He wrapped up by saying: “If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world.”

Here’s a video of Walker making the remarks:

The comment promptly elicited a strong reaction on social media, with many Twitter users asserting it was ridiculous to compare pro-union activists with Islamic terrorists:

Whoa! @ScottWalker just compared #WI teachers, union members, firefighters, cops and more to… #ISIS!! #wipolitics https://twitter.com/DonGonyea/status/571071119932964864

— Josh (@jlemonsk) February 26, 2015

Who hasn’t looked at ISIS videos and thought “they’re just like collective bargaining protestors!!!” #scottwalker

— Tina Dupuy (@TinaDupuy) February 26, 2015

Scott Walker: “If i can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the globe.” There were… fewer guns in the #WIunion protests.

— Lou Barlow (@errollouisz) February 26, 2015

PICTURED: ISIS Terrorists Heroically Driven Away By Gov. Scott Walker http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/scott-walker-compares-union-protesters-isis pic.twitter.com/2D7rpOjHpo

— Craig Harrington (@Craigipedia) February 26, 2015

According to Time political reporter Zeke Miller, the Democratic Party’s communications director responded to Walker’s remarks by saying: “If Scott Walker thinks that it’s appropriate to compare working people speaking up for their rights to brutal terrorists, then he is even less qualified to be president than I thought. Maybe he should go back to punting.”

DNC’s @MoElleithee responds to Walker pic.twitter.com/F0NLVmXJeA

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) February 26, 2015

While Walker’s comments seem to have mostly drawn ire from the left, they also prompted some criticism from conservatives. National Review blogger Jim Geraghty, for example, wrote in a post shortly following Walker’s address that the response was “terrible,” and a “genuine unforced error.”