Former President Donald Trump slammed the decision to take down the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia.
He wrote in a statement, “Just watched as a massive crane took down the magnificent and very famous statue of ‘Robert E. Lee On His Horse’ in Richmond, Virginia. It has long been recognized as a beautiful piece of bronze sculpture. To add insult to injury, those who support this ‘taking’ now plan to cut it into three pieces, and throw this work of art into storage prior to its complete desecration.”
“Robert E. Lee is considered by many Generals to be the greatest strategist of them all,” the former president continued in his statement on Wednesday. “President Lincoln wanted him to command the North, in which case the war would have been over in one day. Robert E. Lee instead chose the other side because of his great love of Virginia, and except for Gettysburg, would have won the war.”
Trump suggested Lee “should be remembered as perhaps the greatest unifying force after the war was over, ardent in his resolve to bring the North and South together through many means of reconciliation and imploring his soldiers to do their duty in becoming good citizens of this Country.”
He continued and pictured Lee in charge of commanding U.S. troops in Afghanistan:
“Our culture is being destroyed and our history and heritage, both good and bad, are being extinguished by the Radical Left, and we can’t let that happen! If only we had Robert E. Lee to command our troops in Afghanistan, that disaster would have ended in a complete and total victory many years ago. What an embarrassment we are suffering because we don’t have the genius of a Robert E. Lee!”
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The controversial statue was lowered from its pedestal on Wednesday, as IJR reported on.
BREAKING: Robert E. Lee statue, erected in 1890, removed from its pedestal on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. pic.twitter.com/RGRZQXDA9n
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 8, 2021
“Robert E. Lee standing here on Monument Avenue is very symbolic to the Confederate mindset, you know the levels of oppression that people feel on a regular day-to-day basis,” Lawrence West, founder of BLM RVA, told CNN.
He added, “With the coming down of the monument it is also a part of coming down with those types of ideals. It brings some closure to the conversation, ‘It’s OK to be racist.’”
The crowd cheered as it was taken down, chanting, “na, na, na, na. Hey, hey, hey, goodbye” and “Black Lives Matter.”
