--- title: CPAC: Scott Walker Argues Congress Should Ignore Protests description: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker advised members of Congress to stay focused on their agenda despite protests. canonical: https://time.com/4680161/cpac-scott-walker-protests/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-23T15:51:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:17:58.894Z article:section: Politics og:title: Scott Walker's Advice to Republicans: Ignore Protests og:description: "Do what you said you were going to do." og:url: https://time.com/4680161/cpac-scott-walker-protests/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a439dfd8ce26e85/6988bb83fb4eac0763890df0/gettyimages-462080036.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Iowa Freedom Summit Features GOP Presidential Hopefuls og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scott Walker's Advice to Republicans: Ignore Protests twitter:description: "Do what you said you were going to do." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a439dfd8ce26e85/6988bb83fb4eac0763890df0/gettyimages-462080036.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scott Walker's Advice to Republicans in Congress: Ignore Protesters > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5100253d-bd59-4520-9226-3ccbefc5674c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Scott Walker Advises Republicans To Ignore Protestors [Watch (HLS stream): Scott Walker Advises Republicans To Ignore Protestors](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6Pk2dYg5.m3u8) (1:43)  _Published 2017-02-23. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker advised members of Congress to stay focused on their agenda despite protests they're facing at town-hall meetings in their home districts._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 23, 2017 3:51 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 23, 2017 3:51 PM UTC Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker advised members of Congress to stay focused on their agenda despite [protests they’re facing at town-hall meetings](http://time.com/4678389/republican-congress-donald-trump-town-hall-protests/) in their home districts. Citing his own experiences as governor, which included a failed protester-driven recall effort, the two-term governor argued that lawmakers will succeed if they keep their promises while saying that protesters will eventually discredit themselves. “That is to do what you said you were going to do. It’s to go big, go bold,” he said in a speech at the [Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.](http://time.com/4679396/cpac-donald-trump-conservatives/?xid=homepage) **Read More:** [_Transcript of Scott Walker’s Speech at CPAC_](http://time.com/4681005/scott-walker-cpac-transcript/) Walker told the crowd of grassroots conservative activists at the annual convention that the mobs of angry constituents and protestors meeting Republican lawmakers in their home states reminded him of protests he’s faced in the past. Walker said when he saw [protesters briefly block](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/protesters-rally-at-dc-school-ahead-of-visit-by-education-secretary-betsy-devos/2017/02/10/faad4962-ef06-11e6-b4ff-ac2cf509efe5%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.53df7ec6b496) Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from entering a public school in Washington he thought, “been there, seen that.” Walker faced massive protests in 2011 when he was [pushing for a law to weaken public unions](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/us/17wisconsin.html) in Wisconsin. But he argued that protesters hurt their own cause when they showed up at the opening of a visitor center and disrupted a law enforcement run to benefit Special Olympic athletes. “This was the moment when normal people could see that the protestors were not like them,” he said. “I mean, who messes up an event for Special Olympics athletes?” ## Transcript Six years ago, I remember a reporter asked us in the midst of all the protests in our capital, a reporter asked me, don't the protesters have a right to be heard? I said, absolutely. They absolutely have a right to be heard. This is America. Anybody can say or do what they want about the government. They can challenge the government, no matter who's in power. But I then said to that same reporter that I wasn't gonna let the noise of the protestors drown out the voices of the majority of people who had elected us to do the things that we were gonna do. It was two weeks ago tomorrow that I saw the video of protestors trying to stop the new US Secretary of Education. From going into a public school just up the way in the District of Columbia. And so, I called Betsy DeVos who's a good friend of mine and I said, you know what? Been there, done that. [ LAUGH ] You might remember the midst of our protest, the protesters as outrageous and radical as they were. They literally glued the door shut To an elementary school where I was gonna come and read to the children. Now the good news is that school was not to be deterred. They actually took the doors off the hinges and we were able to read to the kids. [ APPLAUSE ] But it was a vivid reminder about what we learned in Wisconsin. And that is to do what you said you were gonna do. To go big, to go bold, to actually follow through on the promises you made throughout a campaign. [ APPLAUSE ] It's not only conservatives wand Republicans who like that, but what we found in Wisconsin is that Independents and, yes, even some discerning Democrats like it when you do the things you say you're gonna do. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4680161/cpac-scott-walker-protests/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4680161/cpac-scott-walker-protests/"},"headline":"Scott Walker's Advice to Republicans in Congress: Ignore Protesters","datePublished":"2017-02-23T15:51:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T07:17:58.894Z","description":"Wisconsin Gov. 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