The independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on a recent podcast that he had a “visceral reaction” to the removal of statues glorifying Confederate leaders.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denounced the removal of hundreds of Confederate statues and other monuments across the United States after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.
In a podcast interview that aired live on Friday from the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, Mr. Kennedy, an independent candidate for president, portrayed the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy as “destroying history,” echoing similar comments made by former President Donald J. Trump in support of the monuments.
“I have a visceral reaction against the attacks on those statues,” Mr. Kennedy said on the podcast, which was hosted by Tim Pool, a right-wing commentator.
Statues and other monuments glorifying the Confederacy were erected — most at the height of the Jim Crow era — as part of a movement to advance the Lost Cause myth, which in various iterations depicted the Confederacy’s rebellion as a noble defense of Southern values or falsely asserted that the Civil War was fought over “states’ rights,” not slavery.
Hundreds of Confederate symbols have been taken down since 2020, driven by social justice activists and local communities who viewed the monuments as glorifying an ugly history of racism against African Americans.
As a candidate in 2020, President Biden supported the removal of Confederate statues, as well as the renaming of the Army bases, which was ultimately carried out during his administration.
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denounced the removal of hundreds of Confederate statues and other monuments across the United States after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.
In a podcast interview that aired live on Friday from the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, Mr. Kennedy, an independent candidate for president, portrayed the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy as “destroying history,” echoing similar comments made by former President Donald J. Trump in support of the monuments.
“I have a visceral reaction against the attacks on those statues,” Mr. Kennedy said on the podcast, which was hosted by Tim Pool, a right-wing commentator.
Statues and other monuments glorifying the Confederacy were erected — most at the height of the Jim Crow era — as part of a movement to advance the Lost Cause myth, which in various iterations depicted the Confederacy’s rebellion as a noble defense of Southern values or falsely asserted that the Civil War was fought over “states’ rights,” not slavery.
Hundreds of Confederate symbols have been taken down since 2020, driven by social justice activists and local communities who viewed the monuments as glorifying an ugly history of racism against African Americans.
As a candidate in 2020, President Biden supported the removal of Confederate statues, as well as the renaming of the Army bases, which was ultimately carried out during his administration.
The original article contains 412 words, the summary contains 229 words. Saved 44%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!