CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations will visit West Virginia next month. John Bolton is scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the state Republican Party’s Freedom Dinner on Sept. 19.
“We are excited to have him, particularly right now with all the international intrigue and international turmoil that we’re seeing, having a former ambassador to the United Nations seems very appropriate,” Conrad Lucas, state Republican Party chair, said.
“I know that folks around West Virginia will be anxious to hear him speak, as I certainly am as well.”
The details of the event were expected to be released on Tuesday afternoon.
Bolton is a replacement for Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative filmmaker, who was originally scheduled to headline a state GOP event on Sept. 19.
D’Souza’s appearance was canceled amid criticisms because he is scheduled to be sentenced in New York the following week on charges related to “straw donors.” He faces up to 16 months in prison for giving $20,000 to others to donate to political campaigns.
“Sometimes, we just need to google a little further,” Lucas said of the D’Souza decision on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Bolton, he said, is an excellent replacement. “It was thinking about what’s going on in the world and what would be of interest and you can’t avoid headlines right now of the crisis in the Middle East, of situations the United States is involved with and that folks have heightened concern with,” Lucas said.
“Getting a person who gives an international focus on very timely issues was the approach that we went after.”
Bolton, an attorney, served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from Aug. 2005 to Dec. 2006 during the Bush Administration. From 2001 to 2005, he was the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.
Currently, he is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where his research is focused on U.S. foreign and national security policy.