Friday on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” host Tucker Carlson commented on the recent effort from those on the left, including from those in the media and elected officials, to pull down monuments of types, including those memorializing both Civil War and non-Civil War Americans.
Carlson reference 2017 remarks from CNN contributor Angela Rye, who at the time said all statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee needed to come down. Carlson questioned, if successful, how that would improve quality of life for Americans or if there was even the will from the public for those actions.
“It may happen, by the way, at this rate,” he said. “The Washington Monument will be torn down with chains, not ropes — the Jefferson Memorial, too. When that happens, how many lives will be improved? How many people will be happier, will get better jobs? How many will be improved by the desecration of war graves? The answer, of course, is none. It’s not about improving the lives of anyone of any color. It’s about political power — political power achieved by the oldest means of all, force. It’s an attempt to delegitimize you, who votes the wrong way, and the society you live in, which they hate and want to control. You think you live in a country with freedom of speech, freedom of the religion, equality guaranteed under law — tough. The documents that celebrate those rights that enshrine them were written by bigots. We tore their statues down. Now, we’re in charge.”
“Is anyone for this, exactly? Anyone? Do the American people want this? No. Even now, in the middle of our cultural revolution, only 32% of Americans say they want civil war statuary torn down. How about desecrating war graves? There’s no polling on the subject that we could find, but it’s hard to believe there is a groundswell of support for this. Millions of people don’t have jobs. Why are we spending time on this? Well, it’s happening because of a violent mob is forcing its agenda down the throat of our country. Our leaders, including very much Mitch McConnell and other Republicans in the Senate, are too cowardly to resist them. When asked about the bill to desecrate national cemeteries, one congressional Republican told journalist Ryan Girdusky, quote, ‘This isn’t the hill to die on.’ OK, so where is that hill, exactly? What won’t you let them do to the country? Let us know when you find out.
Carlson, who has been under fire from political opponents in recent weeks for his outspokenness against the turmoil underway around the country, was sure to emphasize he rejected the values of the southern Confederacy.
“Now, to be clear, because there’s no question this will become trending on Twitter, we are not defending the southern Confederacy,” he added. “We abhor it. Few Americans would defend the southern Confederacy. And again, we certainly wouldn’t. The Confederacy declared war on the United States. We are grateful they lost, and their cause was discredited forever by losing. And it was discredited. But that’s the whole point. The Civil War was the turning point in American history. It shaped who we are now. Eliminating the past leaves us unable to say who we are, and that’s the point of eliminating it. It’s exactly why they’re doing it.”
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