Dem Senate hopeful holds event at bookstore selling 'ABOLISH ICE' merch despite pledge to 'secure the border'
A Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful in Iowa is pitching himself as a candidate who believes in the party's "old Democratic values."
However, on Saturday, state Senator Zach Wahls hosted a campaign event at a radical activist bookstore, Dog-Eared Books, that has been vocal about abolishing ICE, financially supports anti-ICE nonprofits, holds drag story time for kids, and promotes books banned in schools for their sexually explicit content, among other far-left activism the store engages in.
Fox News Digital asked Wahls ahead of the event if he was aware of the bookstore's radical track record and whether he regretted holding a campaign event there, but Wahls never responded.
Meanwhile, Wahls' campaign website promises Iowans he will work to "secure the border and fix our broken immigration system," and in posts on social media he has insisted that the nation must have an immigration system based on "law and order."
"I believe in the old Democratic values of hard work and family, not handouts for billionaires and insiders," Wahls also touts in a campaign video pinned to the top of his X account.
Video obtained by Fox News Digital from outside the Ames, Iowa, bookstore where Wahls held his campaign meet-and-greet event alongside his novelist wife, titled "Reading and Running: A conversation with Zach Wahls and Chloe Angyal," showed at least one sign right next to the front entrance reading "ICE IS NOT WELCOME HERE" in bold capital letters. The store has hosted events for Wahls' wife in the past prior to Saturday and sells her romance novels.
In the wake of the federal agent-involved shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the bookstore created a logo of a dog in sunglasses holding a protest sign that reads "ABOLISH ICE" and even put it on a stickler the store is selling on its website.
Following the shootings of Good and Pretti, the store also pledged to donate 25% of its sales to a network of mostly anonymous philanthropic groups called the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund. Some of the groups that have been publicly reported to be affiliated with the fund, include anti-ICE groups like the George Soros-funded Headwaters Foundation for Justice, which says it "believe[s] in a future without ICE," and the Black Collective Foundation Minnesota.
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"Do not retreat. Do not back down. Double Down," Lulete Mola, president and co-founder of the group, said following the ICE shootings in Minneapolis, according to Inside Philanthropy.
Besides being staunchly anti-ICE, the bookstore where Wahls held his meet-and-greet event on Saturday also has a history of supporting child gender transitions and has worked against Republican lawmakers' efforts aimed at protecting women by removing "gender identity" from the state's list of protected classes under Iowa's civil rights laws.
Dog-Eared Books also has a history of holding drag story time events for kids, including one that featured a 14-year-old teenage drag queen, and touts selling "banned" books that are frequently removed from school districts due to what critics deem is non-age appropriate sexually explicit content. Among them being sold is "All Boys Aren't Blue," by George Johnson, which Dog-Eared books notes on social media is "one of the most frequently banned books in Iowa," and "Gender Queer," by Maia Kobabe, a book widely banned in schools for its graphic sexual imagery.
Meanwhile, the store has also exhibited alignment with radical anti-Israel folks, claiming in a Facebook event post for a "Tattoos For Palestine" event that Israel is "committing a Genocide" with its actions that followed the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. And, a web page on the bookstore's website, encourages people to join their letter-writing campaign to lawmakers, aimed at promoting its values that include "No human is illegal. All people deserve access to reproductive healthcare. Healthcare is a human right," and other policy positions that skew to the far-left.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Wahls after the event and did not receive a response. The bookstore did not provide a response either.
Wahls is vying to take over the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by junior Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and if he were to win, would sit alongside longtime senior Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. Wahls, a former Iowa Senate Minority Leader, is taking on a field of opponents for his upcoming primary race in June. Among his main contenders is Democrat State Rep. Josh Turek.
Before entering politics, Wahls went viral as a young adult after giving a speech in the Iowa legislature about growing up with two moms, amid efforts in the state to amend the portion of the state's constitution tied to same-sex marriage. He and his novelist wife credit the event for their meeting.