Amidst the controversy and tragic events that took place in Charlottesville last weekend, President Trump’s statements—or lack thereof—have landed him in a questionable position (yet again). Even though he addressed the protests in a bizarre press conference during which he blamed “both sides” for the violence, he seems to be siding with the white supremacist groups who are upset about the removal of historic Confederate statues and monuments.
In a thread of tweets on Thursday morning, the president said he was sad to see the statues removed, and questioned whether it would lead to the removal of other important American figures like Washington or Jefferson.
Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
…can’t change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson – who’s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish! Also…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
…the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
Even though Trump didn’t outright state he was supporting the white supremacists who want to preserve the Confederate statues, critics are saying his tweets are receiving extreme praise from these same white supremacist groups.
One of these critics was Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, who took to Twitter to express his concern over Trump’s reaction. He wrote, “Because of the manner in which you have handled the Charlottesville tragedy you are now receiving praise from some of the most racist and hate-filled individuals and groups in our country. For the sake of our Nation—as our President—please fix this.”
These statues represent leaders who literally wanted to secede from the United States so they could keep enslaving black people. If there’s no place for those laws or viewpoints in our country, why should we still allow these statues or monuments to stand tall in our cities and perpetrate these messages?