The “Black Hat Conference” is a cyber security forum that happens every year. It features plenty of politicians but also draws some people with genuine knowledge of the arena. One of those people who actually knows what he’s talking about is Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX). He’s a former CIA officer and specializes in the area.

He was scheduled to be a keynote speaker at the conference until something happened.

NEW: Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) has been removed as a keynote speaker at a major cybersecurity conference after critics slammed his record on women's issues including abortion. https://t.co/1Osch80wFr

— Axios (@axios) June 14, 2019

The short of it is that some pro-abortion liberals ran and cried about Hurd’s pro-life views and that got him uninvited as a keynote speaker. Here’s what was said by the conference spokesperson in response to the rescinding of the invite.

“We misjudged the separation of technology and politics,” wrote the conference in a emailed statement.

What you misjudged is how many cowards are on your planning committee. This is a cyber security conference. What does someone’s mainstream pro-life views on abortion have to do with anything? And what is gained by caving into those that complained?

It’s a good thing he’s not expert with years of field experience in this area, unlike *squints* Hillary Clinton who Black Hat hosted for a fundraiser. https://t.co/yOLVrC7JXp

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) June 14, 2019

Hurd gave your typical boilerplate response to being shunned.

“Representative Hurd was honored to be invited and hopes that the Black Hat Conference is a success,” said Katie Thompson, Hurd’s communications director, via email.

“Congressman Hurd has always sought to engage groups of people that don’t necessarily agree with all of his votes or opinions. That’s why Rep. Hurd is one of the loudest voices for bipartisanship in Congress.

With all due respect to the Congressman, this isn’t going to cut it. Taking the high road is just going to get you thrown off the road all together.

What’s happening here is profoundly dangerous. We’ve already seen numerous examples of this in blue states banning business with red states over the passage of state laws. The new trend on the left isn’t just condemnation when people disagree, it’s complete destruction and isolation. Say something they don’t agree with? They’ll organize a boycott of your advertisers or get you thrown out of a conference. It’s not enough to just say “I disagree” for these people.

This is the future and I don’t mean that dramatically. This is really the future.

This is why a lot of people on the right are concerned about recent efforts to deny platforms to certain speakers.

When a mainstream African American Republican Congressman and former CIA officer is deemed to extreme to be a speaker at a major conference, we have a problem. https://t.co/jvewAkJg9P

— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) June 14, 2019

Republicans better wake up sooner rather than later and realize the rules of the game have changed. De-platforming, financial destruction, mobbing, and total shunning from society are the left’s tactics now. Responding by wishing them success, as Hurd did here, is not a viable counter strategy.

We either fight on a level playing field or we will lose. Time for some GOP politicians to decide what they want their fate to be because this is coming for everyone.

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