MAGA fans fumed this week at Republicans who attended a ceremony to install a new statue to replace a Confederate monument that hasn’t been up since 2020.
Virginia unveiled a statue of civil rights activist Barbara Rose Johns at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, replacing a monument for Robert E. Lee in one of two spaces each state is designating to display historical figures.
The Daily Beast noted on Wednesday that the Lee statue was removed in 2020 following a request by then-Gov. Ralph Northam. It came amid a nationwide reckoning of Confederate memorials, and state lawmakers subsequently selected Johns to replace Lee. The Lee statue now sits in the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, displayed within an exhibit addressing efforts to “justify and glorify the Confederacy.”
The swap didn’t sit well with right-wing commenters, the Beast reported.
Matt Rinaldi, former Texas Republican chairman, called it a disgrace that Republicans participated in the unveiling of the new statue. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and House Speaker Mike Johnson joined several Republicans in attending the ceremony.
“Robert E. Lee was a greater American and more significant historical figure than whoever this is,” he said, according to the report.
Adam Johnston of The Federalist also declared the tribute “disgraceful,” while right-wing influencer Matt Walsh complained, “Nobody knows who ‘Barbara Rose Johns’ is. Robert E Lee was about a million times more historically significant. He was also a million times more honorable and courageous than all of the politicians applauding in this video.”
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