During an interview Monday with Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, a “Fox and Friends” co-host compared the 9/11 national monument for the victims of Flight 93 to Confederate monuments.
Zinke, who was a Navy SEAL instructor on 9/11, appeared on Fox from Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where he was visiting the Flight 93 memorial with Vice President Mike Pence on the 16th anniversary of the terrorist attack Monday.
He called the monument an “example of Americans sticking together.”
“They are heroes and this monument, if you have not seen it, you know, drive out and take a look at it, it’s magnificently designed and magnificently done,” Zinke said.
“Do you worry 100 years from now someone is going to take that memorial down like they are trying to remake our memorials today?” co-host Brian Kilmeade asked, referencing moves to take down Confederate monuments and statues across the country in the wake of a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia last month.
White nationalists gathered to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville. The rally turned violent, and a man affiliated with white supremacists allegedly drove his car through a group of counter-protesters, killing one woman.
Zinke slightly evaded the question, saying he is “one that believes … we should learn from history.”
“And I think our monuments are a part of our country’s history. We can learn from it. Since we don’t put up statues of Jesus, everyone is going to fall morally short,” he said. “I think reflecting on our history both good and bad is a powerful statement and part of our DNA. I’m an advocate, again, of learning from our monuments. … Monuments are not Republican, Democrat, Independent. Monuments are a tribute to all of us.”
At a certain point, one of these guys will actually say that statues of Hitler would be a good idea.
If I were more energetic, and good with photoshop, I would circulate a fake news story about a scenic town in Bavaria where the government is trying to force a citizen to take down his statue of Hitler.
A little confusing… is this former seal instructor saying it is alright and a learning experience to have monuments and “naming rights” honoring traitors to the USA? Why did he not make a clear distinction between the 9/11 memorial and confederate civil war memorials?
A tribute? A tribute?
"Since we don’t put up statues of Jesus, everyone is going to fall morally short,”
What the actual fuck is wrong with these people?
Huh?
#'s 3, 10 and 16 out of the 25 tallest statues in the US.