New York Daily News

REBEL &

-

PRESIDENT TRUMP emerged Thursday as the nation’s loudest defender of Confederat­e war monuments, insisting their inherent beauty far outweighs their historical ugliness.

In a series of morning tweets, the Queensborn President expressed his concern that removal of Civil War-related statues strikes a blow against what makes America great.

“Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments,” he tweeted.

“You can’t change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson — who’s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!”

Trump’s Twitter tirade came as some descendant­s of Gen. Jackson and Confederat­e States of America President Jefferson Davis agreed that monuments to their ancestors should be removed and relocated.

A resolute Trump, sticking to his guns, also argued on an artistic level for keeping the statues.

“The beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!” he added.

The monument mess stretched into a fifth day since last weekend’s violence where white supremacis­ts descended on Charlottes­ville, Va., to protest the takedown of a 1924 statue honoring Gen. Robert E. Lee.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was quick to challenge the President, calling for the removal of 10 statues depicting Confederat­e soldiers and politician­s from the U.S. Capitol.

“The Confederat­e statues in the halls of Congress have always been reprehensi­ble,” she charged.

Trump, whose vacillatin­g views of the Charlottes­ville situation drew heavy criticism, ripped into Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham as a media hound over his sharp critique of the President’s positions.

“Publicity seeking Lindsey Graham falsely stated that I said there is moral equivalenc­y between the KKK, neo-Nazis & white supremacis­ts and people like (Charlottes­ville victim Heather) Heyer,” Trump wrote.

“Such a disgusting lie. He just can’t forget his election trouncing. The people of South Carolina will remember!”

Graham fired back via Twitter that he seeks “to move our nation, my state, and our party forward — toward the light — not back to the darkness . . . for the sake of our Nation — as our President — please fix this.”

The senator added a terse parting shot: “History is watching us all.”

Though many of the Virginia marchers chanted antiSemiti­c slogans and carried swastikas, Trump insisted some of those protesters were “very fine people.”

Trump had earlier said “those who spew violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America.” Yet before that, he asserted “many sides” were responsibl­e for the confrontat­ion that left the 32-year-old Heyer dead at the hands of a white supremacis­t.

As he has in the past, Trump blamed the media for twisting his statements rather than owning his words.

“The public is learning (even more so) how dishonest the Fake News is,” he wrote. “They totally misreprese­nt what I say about hate, bigotry etc. Shame!”

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the Senate’s lone black Republican, told a local newspaper that Trump’s public response to the Virginia death and violence was off-base.

“I think you are either missing four centuries of history in this nation or you are trying to make something what it’s not,” Scott told The Post and Courier of Charleston.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) took issue with Trump’s equating the rebel generals with the nation’s Founding Fathers.

“Dear @realDonald­Trump: Robert Lee & Stonewall Jackson are not the same as Washington & Jefferson,” he tweeted. “Can’t believe I had to write that sentence.”

And GOP Sen. Bob Corker, reflecting the bipartisan nature of the criticism, said Trump has so far failed to measure up to the standards needed to occupy the Oval Office.

 ??  ?? Though President Trump (top r.) bemoaned loss, Civil War markers under fire include tarredand-feathered Arizona monument (top) to Confederac­y leader Jefferson Davis (above), Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottes­ville, Va., (main) and defaced pedestal in...
Though President Trump (top r.) bemoaned loss, Civil War markers under fire include tarredand-feathered Arizona monument (top) to Confederac­y leader Jefferson Davis (above), Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottes­ville, Va., (main) and defaced pedestal in...

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States