Now Trump attacks removal of statues of pro-slavery leaders
White House denies rumours about new resignation
DONALD Trump yesterday decried the removal of monuments to the pro-slavery US Civil War figures as he refused to let go of a controversy that has inflamed racial tensions.
The US president’s response to violence last Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia, following a white nationalist protest against the removal of a Confederate statue, has sparked global condemnation.
Yesterday the White House had to knock down rumours that Mr Trump’s economic adviser Gary Cohn might resign. US stockmarkets were rattled amid speculation that Mr Cohn would quit over Mr Trump’s comments on the Charlottesville events and were down in afternoon trading.
The White House said Mr Cohn ‘intends to remain in his position’ as National Economic Council director at the White House.
In a series of Twitter posts, Mr Trump unleashed attacks on two Republicans in the US Senate, Jeff Flake and Lindsey Graham, raising fresh doubts about his ability to work with his own party to win passage of his legislative goals such as tax cuts and infrastructure spending.
Mr Trump also denied he suggested a moral equivalency between white supremacists, neoNazis and the Ku Klux Klan, and the anti-racism activists who clashed in Charlottesville.
His condemnation of the removal of Confederate statues and monuments in numerous US cities was delivered a day after he announced the disbanding of presidential business advisory councils following the resignation of a parade of top corporate executives over his Charlottesville remarks.
‘Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You can’t change history, but you can learn from it,’ Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.
‘Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who’s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!’ Trump added.
He was referring to two Confederate generals in the Civil War that ended in 1865, and to early US presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves but whose legacy is overwhelmingly honoured.
He took aim at the removal or consideration for removal of Confederate statues and monuments in a long list of cities in California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, Virginia and Texas.
Opponents call the statues a festering symbol of racism, while supporters say they honour American history. Some monuments have become rallying points for white nationalists.
Mr Trump also expressed distaste for removing Confederate statues in a heated news conference earlier this week.
The Charlottesville violence erupted on Saturday when white nationalists marched in protest over the planned removal of a statue of Lee. A 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, was killed when a man described as a white nationalist crashed his car into the counter-protesters.
Mr Trump blamed the violence on not just the white nationalist rally organisers but the counterprotesters, and said there were ‘very fine people’ in both groups. He has been rebuked by Democrat and Republican politicians, business chiefs and foreign allies.
After Mr Trump attacked Senator Graham on Twitter, he hit back: ‘Because of the manner in which you have handled the Charlottesville tragedy you are now receiving praise from some of the most racist and hate-filled individuals and groups in our country. For the sake of our nation – as our President – please fix this. History is watching us all.’
The previous day, Mr Graham had said Mr Trump’s remarks at a news conference on Tuesday had suggested moral equivalency between the white nationalists and anti-racism demonstrators and called on the president to use his words to heal Americans. Philip Nolan – Page 14
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‘Who’s next? Washington?’