REPUBLICANS: HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST NOT HONORING THE CONFEDERACY
With Donald Trump facing national polls that show overwhelming support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and a widespread belief that protests are justified, those around him seem to acknowledge that even a small gesture could help his re-election chances. Yet when it comes to the most basic of basic policies—renaming military bases that honor Confederate generals—the president has put his foot down, tweeting last week that “monumental and very powerful bases” like Fort Bragg and Fort Hood “have become part of a great American heritage and a history of winning, victory, and freedom” and vowing that his administration “will not even consider the renaming of these magnificent and fabled military installations.”
Republicans, too, are falling in line. In response to an amendment from Senator Elizabeth Warren calling for the removal of Confederate names from military assets, GOP Senator John Kennedy said it “picks on the South unfairly.” As CNN reported, Kennedy, who said he would offer his own plan “to rename every military installation in the country after a medal of honor winner,” argued that other historical figures were problematic, too: “I think that history will show that in the 18th century, in the 19th century, and well into the 20th century, there were many non-Confederate generals, soldiers and others, in both the South and the North who practiced racial discrimination, anti-Semitism and misogyny,” he said. He was backed up by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said Warren’s measure “betrays the character and decency of every soldier who fought for the South in that bloody and monumental war.” On Twitter, Sessions defended his stance “against the leftist radicals who are seeking to erase our nation’s history,” claiming that the naming practice “was not then and is not now an affirmation of slavery” because “the slavery question had been settled by the war.”
Despite Trump threatening a veto, CNN reports there seems to be “a sizable number of Republicans who likely will join the 47 Democrats” to keep Warren’s amendment, which would require 60 votes to remove, in place. Senate Republicans signaled their openness to the plan on Tuesday, with Senate Majority Whip John Thune telling reporters he is “not wedded to the idea that those names on those military installations are eternal” and that he believes in “[reevaluating], considering timing and circumstances, and where we are in the country, who we want to revere by naming military installations or other national monuments.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also said he would be “personally OK” with revisiting the naming practice “if it’s appropriate” to do so, noting that “with regard to military bases, whatever is ultimately decided” is fine by him. But as Politico reported, he was less willing to embrace Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s call for the immediate removal of 11 Confederate statues from the Capitol, something he called “clearly a bridge too far” and “nonsense” on Tuesday. McConnell described Pelosi’s demands—which she made last week in light of the nationwide reckoning over racial injustice and police violence—as an attempt “to airbrush the Capitol and scrub out everybody from years ago who had any connection to slavery,” adding “a handful of former American presidents owned slaves,” per Politico. Pelosi’s call comes as statues of Confederate leaders and other historical figures have been independently removed in cities across the country amid the protests spurred by the police killing of George Floyd.
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