“The number one pushback to Marxism and to Marxist communist ideology is a strong family,” said Winnings. “It's not religion. It's not conviction. It's not political parties. It's not money. A strong family is led by a strong man, and that craziness dies at his front door.”

Winnings is CEO of Promise Keepers, an evangelical Christian organization whose target audience is men. He is an Army veteran who served in the Afghan War before turning to law enforcement, and then quitting in 2021 to ministral work full-time. The “America Needs Godly Men” tour has included stops across the college campus speaking circuit, including the University of Iowa, Purdue and the University of Connecticut.

Winnings’ lecture was hosted by MSU’s chapter of Turning Point USA.

Winnings was interrupted just two minutes into his remarks when an individual entered the lecture hall playing the Italian anti-facist folk song “Bella Ciao” on a clarinet, before being escorted out shortly after. The individual then walked into the room again, this time signing the lyrics to the song, before being escorted once more. (One audience member noted that the lyrics were scrawled on bullet casings used in the assassination of Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk.)

Once the speech resumed, Winnings spoke on his own values as a Christian and outlined his belief that how people live their lives matters and is a reflection of their faith.

“Something happens when we die, and as a Christian, I believe we're going to stand before God,” Winnings said. “We're going to give an account for our lives. And only if we have given our lives to Christ are we going to be justified in front of our creator and a holy God.”

Winnings then railed against a host of topics he believes go against those Christian and family values including abortion rights, mass immigration and popular media, which he called “degenerate.”

“If your dad’s taking you to a Taylor Swift concert — I'm not trying to throw shade — but I am just saying, why are you listening to that?” Winnings said, referring to the song “Wood” from Swift’s most recent album. “Is this acceptable truly, especially if you’re a Christian?”

 At the end of his remarks, Winnings returned to the motif of “godly men,” noting that that identity is not exclusively tied to any one party identity.

“When I say America needs godly men, we don't need conservative men, we definitely don't need progressive liberal men, we don't need good men, we need godly men,” Winnings said. “Godly men do the right thing no matter what.”

In response to an audience question about his stance on the Iran War, Winnings rejected the notion that America is fighting the war on behalf of Israel, though he did say that doing Israel’s "bidding" could be one of many plausible reasons for the conflict.

“You’re not joining the Israeli army, you're joining the American army ... and you’re going to do whatever they tell you to do,” Winnings said. “So you have to settle that in yourself, but the idea that you're going to be subcontracted out to go fight some other nation’s war, that’s not really how it works.”

When asked if he believed feminism could be incorporated into Christian beliefs, Winnings said ”no.”

“(Feminism) is truly the idea that women are not equal so we need to fight for them to be equal,” Winnings said. “The fight for women to be equal turned into ‘we’re elevating women above men.’”

In response to a question about how conservative students can share their values when faced by those who disagree with them, Winnings emphasized the value of “fighting the good fight.” The student who asked the question, Turning Point MSU President and philosophy senior Ty Bommarito, noted that fliers promoting the event were torn down ahead of the Thursday visit.

“Don't be discouraged,” Winnings said. “They're going to hate you. Make sure that they hate you because of your values, not because you’re a d---.”

In an interview after the event, Winnings said he’s appreciated how his campus tour has helped him understand “why this generation thinks the way that they do.”

“I’m seeing a lot of patterns and it’s even helping me as a communicator to learn how to reach these students who really have been so entrenched in what they believe,” Winnings said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to have face-to-face conversations so we remember that we’re all humans.”