The Confederate statue debate, which has increasingly widened in the past few months, was picked at by White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly when he appeared on Fox News’s ‘The Ingraham Angle.’
Kelly spoke highly of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who fought to defend slave ownership, when asked whether a Virginia church should ‘relocate’ plaques honoring Lee and George Washington.
“I would tell you that Robert E. Lee was an honorable man. […] He was a man that gave up his country to fight for his state, which, 150 years ago, was more important than country. It was always loyalty to state first back in those days. Now it’s different today. But the lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War. And men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand where their conscience had to make their stand.”
Many voiced their opposition to Kelly’s comment, notably, Bernice King, Martin Luther King’s daughter, and Chelsea Clinton.
It’s irresponsible & dangerous, especially when white supremacists feel emboldened, to make fighting to maintain slavery sound courageous. https://t.co/qb2X7QhG7M
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) October 31, 2017
General Kelly, there is no “compromise” regarding slavery. Ever. And, the Constitution’s original 3/5ths Compromise was an abomination. https://t.co/THMjrBhxmI
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) October 31, 2017
The ‘both sides’ rhetoric used by Kelly is not unfamiliar to us: President Trump made a similar controversial mark earlier this year following the white supremacist rally held in Charlottesville in August, which resulted in three deaths and several injuries. His remarks and supposed defense of neo-Nazis were heavily criticized, even by his own Republican colleagues, who called the rally an ‘act of domestic terrorism.’
Kelly, who was initially seen as a possible moderate influence on Trump’s tweet-tapping fingers, has not been a stranger to controversy as of late. Earlier this month, he attacked Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who claimed that a phone conversation between President Trump and the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson as ‘disrespectful.’ He has also vowed to never apologize to Wilson over the comment, saying “Oh, no. No. Never. Well, I’ll apologize if I need to. But for something like that, absolutely not. I stand by my comments.”
Trump’s administration cannot seem to function without some controversy. Arguably, it was controversy that secured his seat as President. Equally, controversy may be the nature of his exit out of the White House.
