Impartial presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he opposed the removing of Accomplice statues, recalling that he had a “visceral response in opposition to” the destruction of monuments honoring southern leaders from the Civil Struggle.
The highest Accomplice basic, Robert E. Lee, had “extraordinary qualities of management” that should be celebrated, Kennedy mentioned Friday in an interview with the conservative podcast host Tim Pool on the Timcast IRL.
“There have been heroes within the Confederacy who did not have slaves,” Kennedy mentioned when requested in regards to the monuments. “And, … I simply have a visceral response to this destroying historical past. I do not prefer it. I feel we must always have a good time who we’re. And that, , we must always have a good time the great qualities of everyone.”
Celebrating solely individuals who had been “fully virtuous” would imply erasing all of historical past, Kennedy mentioned.
The remark is one other controversial pronouncement from the former Democrat, who’s waging an uphill battle to turn into the primary particular person since George Washington to be elected president with out a political get together affiliation.
Kennedy, who’s attempting to sew collectively a coalition of Individuals disaffected with each main events, has promoted himself as a fierce advocate without cost speech who’s keen to take controversial stands in his bid for the presidency. Allies of each Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees, respectively, view Kennedy with trepidation and fear that Kennedy will earn sufficient help to tilt the election.
Activists have pushed for years to take away monuments and rename buildings that honor leaders of the Confederacy, calling them symbols of racism.
“We’d like to have the ability to be refined sufficient to stay with, , our ancestors who did not agree with us on the whole lot and who did issues that at the moment are thought to be immoral or improper, as a result of they, , possibly that they had different qualities,” Kennedy mentioned.
