Trump Says Race-Baiting VA Guv Nominee May Save ‘Statues/Heritage’

President Donald Trump waves before speaking about tax reform at the Farm Bureau Building at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Indianapolis, Ind. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump waves before speaking about tax reform at the Farm Bureau Building at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Ed Gillespie, the Republican nominee in Virginia’s race for governor, is “strong on crime” and may protect Southern “statues” and “heritage.”

“Ed Gillespie will be a great Governor of Virginia,” Trump tweeted. “Strong on crime, he might even save our great statues/heritage.”

“Don’t talk to me about showing up,” Virginia Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D), Gillespie’s opponent, responded.

Gillespie has accused Northam of wanting to tear down Virginia’s Confederate monuments. One Democratic strategist characterized Gillespie’s campaign to TPM as “full Donald Trump primal scream racism.”

One person died in August after white nationalists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in a public park.

Trump in August was hesitant to formally condemn white nationalism in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, and claimed there were “fine people” on both sides of the issue.

He also defended Confederate statues, and claimed they bring “beauty” to public parks and are symbolic of the “history and culture” of the United States.

At a rally in Phoenix in August, Trump went further and claimed those calling for the statues’ removal are “trying to take away our culture.”

“They’re trying to take away our history,” Trump said. “These things have been there for 150 years, for a hundred years.”

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  1. Don’t underestimate the rallying power of “enh, maybe, who knows ¯_(ツ)_/¯” when it comes to heritage.

  2. Headline should read:

    Race-Baiting Trump says Race-Baiting VA Guv Nominee May Save ‘Statues/Heritage’

  3. Avatar for imkmu3 imkmu3 says:

    Again with the statues/heritage crap? Can’t you finally pull you racists heads out of your mythical Southern Heritage asses.

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