Kirk Cameron responded to The Daily Wire’s coverage of an incident at his faith-based story hour in Tennessee on February 25, in which he, along with swim champion Riley Gaines and “Duck Dynasty” alum Missy Robertson, were reportedly harassed by library personnel.
During an interview with The Daily Wire on Wednesday, the 52-year-old actor shared his account of the events that occurred at the Hendersonville public library. He confessed that he was uncertain about how they would be received, given the pushback they received from library director Allan Morales. Although Morales had initially granted approval for the faith-based story hour event, which involved Cameron reading his book “As You Grow,” published by Brave Books, he sought to cancel the event after learning about Cameron’s involvement and that Robertson and Gaines would also be present, as previously reported.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen,” Cameron told the outlet. “All we knew was that we had a reservation.
“We had rented [the room] and got a receipt. … And then they tried to push us off, and kind of hide us in a little church down the street. We decided that I am not going to ghost hundreds of people at a public library who think I’m going to be there. I told them I would be there so I’m coming, and we will just see what happens,” he added.
The “Growing Pains” star said he wanted to note again that the real issue is about “how people are coming out of the woodwork to support good values.”
“It’s not about this disgruntled library director,” the actor asserted before taking a moment to clarify reports of a heated exchange between himself and Morales prior to the event.
“And then when we were filming some things in the lobby,” he told the outlet, adding that is when protesters were clanging on the books, stomping, playing music. “And that’s when I heard him [Morales] say, ‘No, we’re not going to turn off the music, we’ve got stuff to do. And besides, you guys aren’t even supposed to be here.’”
Cameron responded: “‘Actually sir, that’s not true. We are supposed to be here. This is a public library and we’ve rented the space.’ And he [Morales] walked away.”
“It’s another example of another denial turning into a revival,” Kirk told the outlet. “It’s a beautiful gathering of people that are saying, ‘We don’t want this woke and broke ideology to come to our town.’ In a sense, I want to thank the disgruntled librarians for teeing up a local revival for us.”
Cameron suggested that attempting to cancel events such as his faith-based story hour was part of a broader strategy by the Left to play the long game. He pointed out that the Left knows that “the children of today become the leaders of tomorrow,” which is why he’s embarked on the book tour—to touch the hearts and minds of as many children as possible.
“Because love and kindness and faithfulness and self control, that’s the fruit that comes from the root of a Judeo Christian world view,” the actor noted further. “So, it’s the root that they don’t like. So, the reason that they’re rejecting my book is not because they don’t like the word love. It’s because it’s connected to the root of a Judeo Christian world view, which is the foundation of this country and leads to liberty.”
