The US Ambassador to the United Nations has urged conservative teenagers to avoid mocking liberals online, or taking part in “own the libs” antics.
Speaking at a conservative high school leadership summit, Nikki Haley called such speech “the exact opposite” of leadership, the Hill reported.
Conservative group Turning Point USA, which hosted the summit, promotes anti-liberal memes on its Facebook page.
A number of top Republicans will be attending the four-day summit.
Mrs Haley began by asking how many students in the room had participated in “own the libs” behaviour online – behaviour that makes fun of and “trolls” liberals via social media posts and memes.
Most of the conservative teenagers raised their hand, according to the Hill newspaper, and the room erupted in applause.
“I know that it’s fun and that it can feel good, but step back and think about what you’re accomplishing when you do this. Are you persuading anyone? Who are you persuading?” Mrs Haley asked.
“We’ve all been guilty of it at some point or another, but this kind of speech isn’t leadership. It’s the exact opposite.”
“Real leadership”, the ambassador said, “is about persuasion, it’s about movement, it’s bringing people around to your point of view”.
“Not by shouting them down, but by showing them how it is in their best interest to see things the way you do,” Ms Haley said.
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Turning Point USA, a nonprofit founded in 2012, focuses on promoting conservative principles among young Americans.
The organisation has groups on more than 1,200 US campuses – high school and college – with 450 officially recognised by their school.
More than 700 students were invited to this year’s summit at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Anthony Scaramucci are among the big conservative names scheduled to speak at the annual summit.
While speaking on Tuesday, Mr Sessions joined in a student chant of “lock her up”, a phrase frequently used by Donald Trump supporters in reference to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.
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Donald Trump Jr is also slated to attend. The president’s son is friends with Turning Point USA’s founder, Charlie Kirk, and has spoken at past events.
Ms Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, last made headlines for berating human rights groups as the US withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
She called the council a joke during her Monday speech, according to the Hill, saying other countries “lack the courage to make a difference”.
Ms Haley concluded her speech to the students by saying: “If I can leave you with one message today – have the courage to stand up to the mob.”
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