As anti-racism protests have erupted across the U.S. after the death of George Floyd, it has also sparked a push to remove controversial statues and make changes to U.S. military bases named after Confederate Army officers.
On the topic of renaming military bases, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) expressed openness to it.
While he is not for or against it, McConnell said on Tuesday, “I can only speak for myself on this issue. If it’s appropriate to take another look at these names, I’m OK with that. Whatever is ultimately decided I don’t have a problem with.”
McConnell, however, has pushed back on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) call for removing Confederate statues from the Capitol.
Regarding the 11 Confederate statues at the Capitol, Pelosi recently wrote in a letter, “Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals. Their statues pay homage to hate, not heritage. They must be removed.”
“Let us lead by example. To this end, I request the Joint Committee on the Library direct the Architect of the Capitol to immediately take steps to remove these 11 statues from display in the United States Capitol,” she added.
In response, the Kentucky Republican said, “What I do think is clearly a bridge too far is this nonsense that we need to airbrush the Capitol and scrub out everybody from years ago who had any connection to slavery.”
He added:
“There were eight presidents who owned slaves. Washington did. Jefferson did. Madison did. Monroe did. Look, as far as the statues are concerned, every state gets two. Any state can trade out, as Sen. Blunt pointed out, if they choose to. And some actually are choosing to.”
Another Republican, President Donald Trump, however, has a different opinion than McConnell regarding renaming the U.S. military bases, tweeting that he is completely against it.
It has been suggested that we should rename as many as 10 of our Legendary Military Bases, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, etc. These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020
…Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020
Republican lawmakers have split on the issue.
While Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) shared his support for renaming the bases, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) suggested a Senate amendment, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), “in my opinion, picks on the South unfairly.” Kennedy also said he would introduce a measure to “rename every military installation in the country after a medal of honor winner.”