Fox News Host Likens 9/11 Memorial For Flight 93 To Confederate Statues

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke appears on Fox and Friends on Sept. 11, 2017.
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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.”

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